Diamond Member SpaceMan 0 Posted October 10 Diamond Member Share Posted October 10 5 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This artist’s concept depicts a potential volcanic moon between the exoplanet WASP-49 b, left, and its parent star. New evidence indicating that a massive sodium cloud observed near WASP-49 b is produced by neither the planet nor the star has prompted researchers to ask if its origin could be an exomoon.NASA/JPL-Caltech The existence of a moon located outside our solar system has never been confirmed but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence for one. New research done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveals potential signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The biggest clue is a sodium cloud that the findings suggest is close to but slightly out of sync with the This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , a Saturn-size gas giant named WASP-49 b, although additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. Within our solar system, gas emissions from This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up create a similar phenomenon. Although no exomoons (moons of planets outside our solar system) This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up have been identified. It’s likely these planetary companions have gone undetected because they are too small and dim for current telescopes to detect. The sodium cloud around WASP-49 b was first detected in 2017, catching the attention of Apurva Oza, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and now a staff scientist at Caltech, which manages JPL. Oza has spent years investigating how exomoons might be detected via their volcanic activity. For example, Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system, constantly spews sulfur dioxide, sodium, potassium, and other gases that can form vast clouds around Jupiter up to 1,000 times the giant planet’s radius. It’s possible that astronomers looking at another star system could detect a gas cloud like Io’s even if the moon itself were too small to see. Exomoons — moons around planets outside our solar system — are most likely too small to observe directly with current technology. In this video, learn how scientists tracked the motion of a sodium cloud 635 light-years away and found that it could be created by volcanos on a potential exomoon. NASA/JPL-Caltech Both WASP-49 b and its star are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of sodium. Neither contains enough sodium to account for the cloud, which appears to be coming from a source that is producing roughly 220,000 pounds (100,000 kilograms) of sodium per second. Even if the star or planet could produce that much sodium, it’s unclear what mechanism could eject it into space. Could the source be a volcanic exomoon? Oza and his colleagues set out to try to answer that question. The work immediately proved challenging because from such a great distance, the star, planet, and cloud often overlap and occupy the same tiny, faraway point in space. So the team had to watch the system over time. A Cloud on the Move As detailed in This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, they found several pieces of evidence that suggest the cloud is created by a separate body orbiting the planet, though additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. For example, twice their observations indicated the cloud suddenly increased in size, as if being refueled, when it was not next to the planet. This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up New NASA-led research suggests a sodium cloud seen around the exoplanet WASP-49 b might be created by a volcanic moon, which is depicted in this artist’s concept. Jupiter’s fiery moon Io produces a similar cloud. NASA/JPL-Caltech They also observed the cloud moving faster than the planet in a way that would seem impossible unless it was being generated by another body moving independent of, and faster, than the planet. “We think this is a really critical piece of evidence,” said Oza. “The cloud is moving in the opposite direction that physics tells us it should be going if it were part of the planet’s atmosphere.” While these observations have intrigued the research team, they say they would need to observe the system for longer to be sure of the cloud’s orbit and structure. A Chance of Volcanic Clouds For part of their sleuthing, the researchers used the ********* Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. Oza’s co-author Julia Seidel, a research fellow at the observatory, established that the cloud is located high above the planet’s atmosphere, much like the cloud of gas Io produces around Jupiter. They also used a computer model to illustrate the exomoon scenario and compare it to the data. The exoplanet WASP-49 b orbits the star every 2.8 days with clocklike regularity, but the cloud appeared and disappeared behind the star or behind the planet at seemingly irregular intervals. Using their model, Oza and team showed that a moon with an eight-hour orbit around the planet could explain the cloud’s motion and activity, including the way it sometimes seemed to move in front of the planet and did not seem to be associated with a particular region of the planet. “The evidence is very compelling that something other than the planet and star are producing this cloud,” said Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at JPL who co-authored the study with Oza. “Detecting an exomoon would be quite extraordinary, and because of Io, we know that a volcanic exomoon is possible.” A Violent End On Earth, volcanoes are driven by heat in its core left over from the planet’s formation. Io’s volcanoes, on the other hand, are driven by Jupiter’s gravity, which squeezes the moon as it gets closer to the planet then reduces its “grip” as the moon moves away. This flexing heats the small moon’s interior, leading to a process called tidal volcanism. If WASP-49 b has a moon similar in size to Earth’s, Oza and team estimate that the rapid loss of mass combined with the squeezing from the planet’s gravity will eventually cause it to disintegrate. “If there really is a moon there, it will have a very destructive ending,” said Oza. News Media Contact Calla CofieldJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-808-2469calla.e*****@*****.tld 2024-135 Share Details Last Updated Oct 10, 2024 Related Terms This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up Explore More This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> 4 min read NASA’s Hubble Watches Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball Astronomers have observed Jupiter’s legendary Great Red Spot (GRS), an anticyclone large enough to ********… Article 22 hours ago This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> 2 min read Hubble Observes a Peculiar Galaxy Shape This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the galaxy, NGC 4694. Most galaxies fall into… Article 6 days ago This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> 4 min read Via NASA Plane, Scientists Find New Gamma-ray Emission in Storm Clouds There’s more to thunderclouds than rain and lightning. Thunderclouds can produce intense bursts of gamma… Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> Humans in Space This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> Climate Change This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> Solar System This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up /applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"> This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up Link to comment https://hopzone.eu/forums/topic/146974-nasa-does-distant-planet-host-volcanic-moon-like-jupiter%E2%80%99s-io/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now