Evidence Found Of Volcanic Moon Orbiting A Distant Exoplanet

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We know there are thousands of planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets. And scientists are pretty sure that many of these planets must also host moons, called exomoons . But because moons are so tiny and dim compared to planets and stars, there has never been a confirmed discovery of an exomoon. Now, though, scientists have uncovered evidence of an exomoon, and it appears to be a hellish and volcanic place.

The presence of sodium is similar to what is seen at Jupiter⁘s moon Io, which is covered in hundreds of volcanoes and is the most volcanically active place in the solar system. These volcanoes are constantly erupting and spewing out material including sulfur dioxide, sodium, potassium, and other gases, which can be thrown out for hundreds of miles and can form huge clouds that are bigger even than Jupiter.

When researchers used the Very Large Telescope to observe the WASP-49 system, they found a comparable-looking cloud of sulfur, which is why they think there might be a volcanic moon there.

⁘We think this is a really critical piece of evidence,⁘ said lead researcher Apurva Oza of the California Institute of Technology in a statement . ⁘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.⁘

Another piece of evidence for the existence of a moon is that while both the planet and its star do have small amounts of sodium, there isn⁘t enough present to explain the size of the cloud.

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