Astronomers may have found the first exomoon
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope have identified a potential exomoon orbiting a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system. This discovery challenges current definitions of planetary systems, as the object is massive enough to be a planet but orbits a non-stellar companion.
Observations made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our Solar System, the newly found object does not orbit a planet, raising questions about what to name it. Instead, it circles a brown dwarf, an object larger than a planet, that orbits the CD-35 2722 star. If confirmed, this could be the first ‘moon’ discovered outside our Solar System.
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