Astronomers Find First Evidence of Possible Moon Outside Our Solar System

Using NASA’s Hubble and Kepler space telescopes, astronomers have uncovered tantalizing evidence of what could be the first discovery of a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system.

This moon candidate, which is 8,000 light-years from Earth in the Cygnus constellation, orbits a gas-giant planet that, in turn, orbits a star called Kepler-1625. Researchers caution that the moon hypothesis is tentative and must be confirmed by follow-up Hubble observations.

“This intriguing finding shows how NASA’s missions work together to uncover incredible mysteries in our cosmos,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters, Washington. “If confirmed, this finding could completely shake up our understanding of how moons are formed and what they can be made of.”

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Credits: NASA/ESA/L. Hustak

NASA’s Hubble and Kepler space telescopes have uncovered what could be the first moon outside our solar system ever found. More observations are needed to confirm this discovery

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The Hubble and Kepler space telescopes found evidence for what could be a giant moon accompanying a gas-giant planet that orbits the star Kepler-1625, located 8,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.

The moon may be as big as Neptune and it orbits a planet several times more massive than Jupiter.

Amazing

Wikipedia wrote:The diameter of Neptune is approximately 49,500 km. This makes Neptune the 4th largest planet in the Solar System. And compared to Earth? Neptune is 3.9 times bigger

Dragon wrote:The moon may be as big as Neptune and it orbits a planet several times more massive than Jupiter.
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So this new moon would be roughly 3.9 times bigger than Earth, Wow, that's quite big.. Thanks for sharing Dragon