Ilustrasi exoplanet. (Pixabay/ ChadoNihi)
Hitekno.com – For astronomer have found exomoon or second exomonth outside solar system. Interestingly, this exomoon has a very large size.
Exomoon itself is a natural satellite or month orbiting an exoplanet, a planet that is on outside the solar system.
According to a team of experts and astronomers, the exomoon is gigantic, even larger than half the planets in the solar system.
The discovery dates back to 2017 when the Cool Worlds team from Columbia University reported signs of a planet-sized object bonding with another larger planet.
The potential exomoon is thought to be orbiting Kepler 1708b, a planet about the size of Jupiter and 5,500 light-years away.
While observing the planet, the team of scientists also found an exomoon that is about 12 planetary radii.
Experts refer to the exomoon as Kepler 1708b-i which has a radius of 2.6 times the Earth, making it a gas-filled object rather than rock.
This discovery raises a big question mark because the exomoon is gigantic.
Experts speculate that the exomoon was once a planet, before being pulled up by another planet in a close encounter.
“Further confirmation will require use of the Hubble Telescope or perhaps the recently launched JWST,” said David Kipping, the scientist who led the research, quoted from IFL Science, Monday (17/1/2022).
However, such observations may be difficult to make, given that experts must determine when Kepler-1708b transited.
According to the team of experts, the observation opportunities will only occur every two years.
Will there be another exomoon discovery? Or other fantastical extra-solar discoveries? (Suara.com/ Lintang Siltya Utami).
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