Santiago:Astronomers have reported the potential discovery of a moon-like object beyond our Solar System, identifying a massive companion orbiting a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 star system.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the CD-35 2722 system features a young star with about half the mass of the Sun. A brown dwarf orbits this star, and the newly detected object appears to revolve around the brown dwarf, creating a unique configuration that challenges traditional classifications of stars, planets, and moons.
Kevin Hoy, a student at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile and the lead author of the study published in Nature, described the system as significantly different from our own Solar System. The researchers refer to the potential moon as an exosatellite, noting it has at least the mass of Jupiter, while the brown dwarf it orbits is over 30 times as massive.
The classification of the object is complex because it orbits a body that itself orbits a star, rather than orbiting a star directly. This has led to difficulties in using conventional terms such as 'planet' and 'moon' to define it, Hoy explained.
Alice Zurlo, director of the Millennium Nucleus of Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) and a collaborator on the study, described the satellite as a giant gaseous body. She further noted that the system blurs the established boundaries between stars, planets, and moons.
The search for exomoons has been ongoing for years, with more than 6,000 exoplanets identified, but evidence for exomoons has remained elusive. Earlier studies, such as those led by Quentin Kral, have suggested possible exomoon candidates without definitive confirmation.
Hoy, Zurlo, and their colleagues investigated the CD-35 2722 system using the CRIRES+ instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. They employed the radial velocity method to detect changes in the brown dwarf's motion, supporting the presence of a massive body orbiting it.
Despite the challenges in defining such objects, the discovery represents a significant breakthrough in the search for exomoons. Future advancements, such as the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope, are expected to enhance the ability to identify smaller objects beyond current observatory capabilities.