Exomoon

An '''exomoon''' or '''extrasolar moon''' is a [[natural satellite]] that orbits an [[exoplanet]] or other non-stellar [[Astronomical object#Categories by location|extrasolar body]].<ref name="WRD-20150127">{{cite journal |last=Woo |first=Marcus |title=Why We're Looking for Alien Life on Moons, Not Just Planets |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/01/looking-alien-life-moons-just-planets/ |date=27 January 2015 |journal=[[Wired (website)|Wired]] |access-date=27 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127120332/http://www.wired.com/2015/01/looking-alien-life-moons-just-planets/ |archive-date=27 January 2015 }}</ref>

An '''exomoon''' or '''extrasolar moon''' is a [[natural satellite]] that orbits an [[exoplanet]] or other non-stellar [[Astronomical object#Categories by location|extrasolar body]].<ref name="WRD-20150127">{{cite journal |last=Woo |first=Marcus |title=Why We're Looking for Alien Life on Moons, Not Just Planets |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/01/looking-alien-life-moons-just-planets/ |date=27 January 2015 |journal=[[Wired (website)|Wired]] |access-date=27 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127120332/http://www.wired.com/2015/01/looking-alien-life-moons-just-planets/ |archive-date=27 January 2015 }}</ref>

Exomoons are impossible to detect and confirm using current technology,<ref name="kipping09"/> and to date there have been no confirmed exomoon detections.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heller|first=René|date=2014|title=Detecting Extrasolar Moons Akin to Solar System Satellites with an Orbital Sampling Effect|url=http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/787/i=1/a=14|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|language=en|volume=787|issue=1|pages=14|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/787/1/14|issn=0004-637X|arxiv=1403.5839|bibcode=2014ApJ...787...14H|s2cid=118523573}}</ref> However, observations from missions such as [[Kepler (spacecraft)|Kepler]] have observed a number of candidates.<ref name="Teachey2018">{{cite journal | title=Evidence for a large exomoon orbiting Kepler-1625b | last1=Teachey | first1=Alex | last2=Kipping | first2=David M. | journal= Science Advances | volume=4 | issue=10 | pages=eaav1784 |date=4 October 2018 | doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav1784 | pmid=30306135 | pmc=6170104 | bibcode=2018SciA....4.1784T | arxiv=1810.02362 }}</ref><ref name="Kipping2022">{{cite journal |last1=Kipping |first1=David |last2=Bryson |first2=Steve |display-authors=etal |date=13 January 2022 |title=An exomoon survey of 70 cool giant exoplanets and the new candidate Kepler-1708 b-i |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume= 6|issue= 3|pages= 367–380|doi= 10.1038/s41550-021-01539-1|pmid=35399159 |pmc=8938273 |arxiv=2201.04643 |bibcode=2022NatAs...6..367K}}</ref> Two potential exomoons that may orbit [[rogue planet]]s have also been detected by [[microlensing]].<ref name=bennett2014>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=D.P. |display-authors=etal |arxiv=1312.3951 |title=A Sub-Earth-Mass Moon Orbiting a Gas Giant Primary or a High Velocity Planetary System in the Galactic Bulge |date=13 December 2013 |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/785/2/155 |bibcode=2014ApJ...785..155B |volume=785 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |issue=2 |page=155 |s2cid=118327512 }}</ref><ref name=miyazaki2018>{{cite journal |last1=Miyazaki |first1=S. |display-authors=etal |arxiv=1804.00830 |title=MOA-2015-BLG-337: A Planetary System with a Low-mass Brown Dwarf/Planetary Boundary Host, or a Brown Dwarf Binary |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=24 July 2018 |volume=156 |issue=3 |pages=136 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aad5ee |bibcode=2018AJ....156..136M |s2cid=58928147 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In September 2019, astronomers reported that the observed dimmings of [[Tabby's Star]] may have been produced by fragments resulting from the [[Disrupted planet|disruption]] of an [[Tidally detached exomoon|orphaned exomoon]].<ref name="PHYS-20190916">{{cite news |author=Columbia University |author-link=Columbia University |title=New observations help explain the dimming of Tabby's Star |url=https://phys.org/news/2019-09-dimming-tabby-star.html |date=16 September 2019 |work=[[Phys.org]] |access-date=19 September 2019 }}</ref><ref name="MNRAS-20190915">{{cite journal |last1=Martinez |first1=Miquel |last2=Stone |first2=Nicholas C. |last3=Metzger |first3=Brian D. |title=Orphaned Exomoons: Tidal Detachment and Evaporation Following an Exoplanet-Star Collision |date=5 September 2019 |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume=489 |issue=4 |pages=5119–5135 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stz2464 |arxiv=1906.08788 |bibcode=2019MNRAS.489.5119M |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="AM-20190918">{{cite news |last=Carlson |first=Erika K. |title=Shredded exomoon may explain weird behavior of Tabby's Star - Tabby's star may have kidnapped an icy "exomoon" from its parent planet and brought it close in, where the world evaporated, creating dust and debris. |url=http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/09/evaporating-exomoon-could-explain-weird-light-patterns-of-tabbys-star |date=18 September 2019 |work=[[Astronomy (magazine)|Astronomy]] |access-date=19 September 2019 }}</ref> Some exomoons may be potential [[Natural satellite habitability|habitats for extraterrestrial life]].<ref name="WRD-20150127" />

Exomoons are difficult to detect and confirm using current techniques,<ref name="kipping09"/> and to date there have been no confirmed exomoon detections.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heller|first=René|date=2014|title=Detecting Extrasolar Moons Akin to Solar System Satellites with an Orbital Sampling Effect|url=http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/787/i=1/a=14|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|language=en|volume=787|issue=1|pages=14|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/787/1/14|issn=0004-637X|arxiv=1403.5839|bibcode=2014ApJ...787...14H|s2cid=118523573}}</ref> However, observations from missions such as [[Kepler (spacecraft)|Kepler]] have observed a number of candidates.<ref name="Teachey2018">{{cite journal | title=Evidence for a large exomoon orbiting Kepler-1625b | last1=Teachey | first1=Alex | last2=Kipping | first2=David M. | journal= Science Advances | volume=4 | issue=10 | pages=eaav1784 |date=4 October 2018 | doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav1784 | pmid=30306135 | pmc=6170104 | bibcode=2018SciA....4.1784T | arxiv=1810.02362 }}</ref><ref name="Kipping2022">{{cite journal |last1=Kipping |first1=David |last2=Bryson |first2=Steve |display-authors=etal |date=13 January 2022 |title=An exomoon survey of 70 cool giant exoplanets and the new candidate Kepler-1708 b-i |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume= 6|issue= 3|pages= 367–380|doi= 10.1038/s41550-021-01539-1|pmid=35399159 |pmc=8938273 |arxiv=2201.04643 |bibcode=2022NatAs...6..367K}}</ref> Two potential exomoons that may orbit [[rogue planet]]s have also been detected by [[microlensing]].<ref name=bennett2014>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=D.P. |display-authors=etal |arxiv=1312.3951 |title=A Sub-Earth-Mass Moon Orbiting a Gas Giant Primary or a High Velocity Planetary System in the Galactic Bulge |date=13 December 2013 |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/785/2/155 |bibcode=2014ApJ...785..155B |volume=785 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |issue=2 |page=155 |s2cid=118327512 }}</ref><ref name=miyazaki2018>{{cite journal |last1=Miyazaki |first1=S. |display-authors=etal |arxiv=1804.00830 |title=MOA-2015-BLG-337: A Planetary System with a Low-mass Brown Dwarf/Planetary Boundary Host, or a Brown Dwarf Binary |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=24 July 2018 |volume=156 |issue=3 |pages=136 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aad5ee |bibcode=2018AJ....156..136M |s2cid=58928147 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In September 2019, astronomers reported that the observed dimmings of [[Tabby's Star]] may have been produced by fragments resulting from the [[Disrupted planet|disruption]] of an [[Tidally detached exomoon|orphaned exomoon]].<ref name="PHYS-20190916">{{cite news |author=Columbia University |author-link=Columbia University |title=New observations help explain the dimming of Tabby's Star |url=https://phys.org/news/2019-09-dimming-tabby-star.html |date=16 September 2019 |work=[[Phys.org]] |access-date=19 September 2019 }}</ref><ref name="MNRAS-20190915">{{cite journal |last1=Martinez |first1=Miquel |last2=Stone |first2=Nicholas C. |last3=Metzger |first3=Brian D. |title=Orphaned Exomoons: Tidal Detachment and Evaporation Following an Exoplanet-Star Collision |date=5 September 2019 |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume=489 |issue=4 |pages=5119–5135 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stz2464 |arxiv=1906.08788 |bibcode=2019MNRAS.489.5119M |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="AM-20190918">{{cite news |last=Carlson |first=Erika K. |title=Shredded exomoon may explain weird behavior of Tabby's Star - Tabby's star may have kidnapped an icy "exomoon" from its parent planet and brought it close in, where the world evaporated, creating dust and debris. |url=http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/09/evaporating-exomoon-could-explain-weird-light-patterns-of-tabbys-star |date=18 September 2019 |work=[[Astronomy (magazine)|Astronomy]] |access-date=19 September 2019 }}</ref> Some exomoons may be potential [[Natural satellite habitability|habitats for extraterrestrial life]].<ref name="WRD-20150127" />

== Definition and designation ==

== Definition and designation ==