New Delhi:
In a first, a moon beyond our solar system has been discovered by the astronomers. The moon is orbiting around a giant planet near a star that is about 4,000 light-years away.
Dips in light from exoplanets passing in front of their stars were analysed by the researchers from Columbia University, in data from the Kepler space telescope.
According to the researchers, a moon could be revealed in a second, smaller dip that appears ahead of or behind the planet. First evidence for an exomoon candidate named Kepler 1625b i has been found by the researchers David Kipping and Alex Teachey of Columbia University.
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284 planets that seemed like they could host detectable moons, were analysed by the researchers, 'New Scientist' reported. "Out of those, this object popped out," Kipping said.
According to the researchers, if the object exists then it orbits around a planet that is a bit larger than Jupiter and is about 4,000 light-years away. Since the potential moon is probably about the size of Neptune, the team nicknamed it 'Neptmoon'.
Researchers have planned to check the existence of the moon by using Hubble Space Telescope to watch for another transit on October 29.
