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Tidally detached exomoons, also known as orphaned exomoons [1] or ploonets, [2] are hypothetical exoplanets that were formerly exomoons of another planet, before being ejected from their orbits around their parent planets by tidal forces during planetary migration, and becoming planets in their own right.
Moons are classed into two separate categories according to their orbits: regular moons, which have prograde orbits (they orbit in the direction of their planets' rotation) and lie close to the plane of their equators, and irregular moons, whose orbits can be pro- or retrograde (against the direction of their planets' rotation) and often lie at ...
J1407) in 2007, may have a few moons based on gaps observed in its circumstellar disk or ring system. [1] Later studies have since found that J1407b is most likely a free-floating sub-brown dwarf or rogue planet, possibly less than 6 Jupiter masses. [2] 2012 — The confirmed hot Jupiter planet WASP-12b may also possess a moon. [3]
The goal of current searches is to find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of their planetary systems (also called the Goldilocks zone). [4] Planets with oceans could include Earth-sized moons of giant planets, though it remains speculative whether such 'moons' really exist. The Kepler telescope might be sensitive enough to detect them. [5]
For planets tidally locked to their stars, the distance from the planet at which the moon will be in a synchronous orbit around the planet is outside the Hill sphere of the planet. The Hill sphere of the planet is the region where its gravity dominates that of the star so it can hold on to its moons.
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
First extrasolar planet discovered by indirect imaging (visible light) Found in 2020 to be a debris cloud from a collision of asteroids rather than a planet 2015 NameExoWorlds Tadmor: Ancient Palmyrene and modern Arabic name for Palmyra: Gamma Cephei A (Errai) 1.85 903.3 2.05 radial vel. 2003 45.0 1.4 2015 NameExoWorlds Meztli
The outer moons orbiting all the giant planets across our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — share similar configurations. “Even Uranus, which is tipped on its side, has a ...