Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have spotted what could be the first exomoon ever detected. But this isn’t your garden-variety rocky satellite. This thing is the size of Jupiter, and it doesn’t orbit a planet at all. Instead, it circles a brown dwarf — a substellar object that’s too big to be a planet but too small to be a star. The discovery was published in the journal Nature, and it’s already sparking debates about what we even call a moon.
The system, known as CD-35 2722, features a star, a brown dwarf, and this massive satellite. If confirmed, it would be the first three-tiered star system ever found. Lead author Kevin Hoy, a student at ESO, described the system as“super weird,”which is refreshingly honest for a scientist. The team used the telescope to detect tiny wobbles in the brown dwarf’s motion, revealing the presence of the giant companion.
This discovery matters because it opens the door to finding more exomoons, some of which might actually host conditions for life. It also forces us to rethink our definitions of moons and planets. So what do you think: Does this Jupiter-sized object deserve to be called a moon, or should we invent a new category for it? Let us know in the comments.
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Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
