Although more than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered, finding the moons around them remains a challenge. These two candidates caused a stir in 2017 and 2022 by offering potential clues to extraterrestrial life and planet formation.
But recent analysis by German astronomers suggests that these echoes are unlikely. They used improved models of stellar brightness variations and data processing, arguing that it explained small dips in starlight previously attributed to moons.
But the story doesn’t end there. David Kipping, the chief discoverer of exomoons, disagrees with the results of the analysis and prepares a counter-argument. The discussion centers on the nuances of data interpretation and modeling, highlighting the difficulty of detecting such weak signals.
So, are there any exomoons around Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b? We don’t have enough data right now to say definitively yes or no. Researchers expect James Webb to make more observations and future missions such as PLATO to provide a clearer picture.
While the case remains inconclusive, the exomone hunt is not over yet. There are many more moons than planets in our solar system, so exomoons should be common.
Source: Ferra
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