<![CDATA[That's no moon.]]>That's no moon. It's a...hang on, what should we call it? 🤔

Our VLT has revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Yet this new ‘exomoon’ detection is challenging cosmic labels!

Illustration: ESO/M. Kornmesser

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/d26a9044-c9a3-4980-8c5a-df11dc93c03e/that-s-no-moon.RSS for NodeSat, 25 Jul 2026 05:52:37 GMTWed, 22 Jul 2026 15:03:14 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:10:00 GMT]]>@esoastronomy
I wonder if this „moon“ has its own moons…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ritchey_de/statuses/116964969719927658https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ritchey_de/statuses/116964969719927658Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:10:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:50:48 GMT]]>@passwordsarehard4 @amoroso @esoastronomy If it's pulled into another star, what's the state of that star? Sounds like a black hole or what happens when they collide?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116584758053727639/statuses/116964894180748806https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116584758053727639/statuses/116964894180748806Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:50:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:08:43 GMT]]>@passwordsarehard4 @amoroso Note that the intermediate object is not a dying star, it's a young brown dwarf – an object that never became a star. It's more massive than a planet but not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion in a prolonged way.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964728744472457https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964728744472457Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:08:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:37:03 GMT]]>@esoastronomy satellite

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://alive.bar/users/quux/statuses/116964604216496643https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://alive.bar/users/quux/statuses/116964604216496643Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:37:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:30:27 GMT]]>@passwordsarehard4 Agreed.

@esoastronomy

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/amoroso/statuses/116964578293127444https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/amoroso/statuses/116964578293127444Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:30:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:28:32 GMT]]>@amoroso @esoastronomy . It’s a planet circling a dying star that happens to be getting pulled into another star. this feels more like a captured solar system degrading into its neighbor than a moon to me.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/passwordsarehard4/statuses/116964570730869635https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/passwordsarehard4/statuses/116964570730869635Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:28:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:22:30 GMT]]>@esoastronomy someone get David Kipping on the phone

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bamboombibbitybop/statuses/116964547012820780https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bamboombibbitybop/statuses/116964547012820780Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:22:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:40:49 GMT]]>@esoastronomy exosat 😁

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.uno/users/desoter/statuses/116964383071306282https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.uno/users/desoter/statuses/116964383071306282Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:40:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:32:45 GMT]]>@esoastronomy You nailed it. Death Star it is!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/Thorium/statuses/116964351354240109https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/Thorium/statuses/116964351354240109Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:32:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:14:58 GMT]]>@esoastronomy The definition of moon feels like a wave function.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/amoroso/statuses/116964281467457724https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/amoroso/statuses/116964281467457724Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:14:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:06:32 GMT]]>Read more in our press release: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2610/

Or if you prefer a video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j_oUFddIY

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964248317769885https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964248317769885Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:06:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:05:29 GMT]]>If confirmed, this could be the first ‘moon’ discovered outside our Solar System — something astronomers have been searching for years.

This animation shows how the gravitational pull of the ‘moon’ makes the brown dwarf wobble, shifting its spectrum and so enabling the detection 👇

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964244170539436https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964244170539436Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:05:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to That's no moon. on Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:04:26 GMT]]>Unlike moons in our Solar System, this object — a gaseous body at least as massive as Jupiter — does not orbit a planet.

It circles a brown dwarf, that in turn orbits the CD-35 2722 star.

Regardless of what to call this object, this discovery may mark an important first.

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964240010070581https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116964240010070581Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:04:26 GMT