Have We Found the First Exomoon … Around a Brown Dwarf?
The additions are tiny irregular satellites a few kilometres wide, found through years of telescope imaging and follow-up tracking.
- The International Astronomical Union confirmed 128 new irregular moons around Saturn on March 11, 2025, officially pushing the planet's total from 146 to 274 moons.
- Edward Ashton and colleagues monitored Saturn between 2019 and 2023, using a 'shift-and-stack' technique that combines multiple images to strengthen signals from faint objects.
- Unlike famous moons like Titan or Enceladus, these 128 additions are small irregular satellites only a few kilometers across, occupying distant, eccentric orbits likely as fragments of larger bodies.
- By March 2026, the IAU Minor Planet Center confirmed 11 additional moons, raising Saturn's known total to 285 while Jupiter's known total rose to 101.
- The March 2025 announcement underscored that Saturn's inventory remains incomplete; as astronomical instruments improve, scientists expect to detect more small candidate companions, suggesting the count will continue to evolve.
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Astronomers may have detected an exomoon
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile have found evidence of a moon-sized companion far beyond our own solar system, which might be the first exomoon to be detected (though it wouldn't be the first time we've been here). — Read the rest The post Astronomers may have detected an exomoon appeared first on Boing Boing.
Scientists Edge Closer To First Exomoon Discovery
A new study based on satellite observations of a brown dwarf orbiting a star suggests the possible first detection of an exomoon. Researchers are debating its classification as an 'exoplanet' or 'exomoon' due to a lack of definitive systems, but refer to it as an 'exosatellite' with a mass similar to Jupiter.
Astrophysicists announced that on Wednesday, 22 July, they had identified a satellite orbiting a brown dwarf, orbiting around a star. Their first detection questioned the conditions of formation of multi-body systems.
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