Since the early 1990s, scientists havecataloged thousands upon thousandsof exoplanets drifting beyond our solar system.
“They are terra incognita.”
That one’s awaiting its formal exomoon classification though, so the field of astronomy is technically still exomoon-less.
He recalls skepticism that once surrounded the quest to find exoplanets prior to the first one’s confirmation.
“Those planets are alien compared to our home system,” he said.
“But they have revolutionized our understanding of how planetary systems form.”
Returning to Kipping’s newly documented possible exomoon: It’s approximately a third smaller than his first contender.
Such distance means there’s less gravity present to strip down their layers.
As moons are much smaller than planets, it’s naturally harder to see when they block starlight.
The Morse code, in a sense, is fainter.
Others, however, are optimistic about Kipping’s exomoon data.
