一对天文学家在另一个太阳系中发现了一个“系外卫星”
月球是一个有岩石或冰冷的天体，在我们的太阳系中共有 200 颗卫星。 这包括地球的 月亮 这是我们星球自己的永久天然卫星。 月球围绕地球运行，就像行星地球围绕恒星太阳运行一样。 在我们的太阳系中，只有两颗行星——水星和金星——没有卫星。 在我们的太阳系之外有很多行星被称为“系外行星' 研究人员已经证实了这一点，尽管在卫星上没有得到证实。 哥伦比亚大学的一对天文学家亚历克斯·蒂奇和大卫·基平第一次发现了另一个太阳系中存在月球的有力证据。 尽管已知 3,500 颗系外行星，但这是首次发现系外行星。 这颗卫星绕着另一个恒星系统中的一颗巨行星运行，该行星距离我们 8000 光年。 它被称为“外显子’ as it orbits a planet in another solar system. This celestial object is unique owing to its huge size – diameter being similar to that of planet Neptune or Uranus – and it also looms over a giant Jupiter-sized planet and their pairing has been remarked as a ‘super-size pairing’. The exomoon is nine times bigger than Jupiter’s Ganymede which is the largest moon is our solar system. The 哈勃 Space telescope and Kepler telescope from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (美国航空航天局) 已被用于通过对遥远恒星、行星和可能的卫星的调查来做出这一重大发现。
在本研究中发表 科学进展 what is being hailed as a milestone in astronomy, Teachey and Kipping examined data from 284 exoplanets which have been discovered till date by Kepler telescope which were seen in wide orbits for more than one month around their stars. The observations were able to measure brief dimming of a star’s light when the planet passed in front of the star i.e. during the transit. Exoplanets are discovered by astronomers by observing this reduction in brightness of the star which the planet orbits. This method is called the ‘transit method’. Theoretical models of planet formation are unable to make such predictions and that is why the transit method is used. This planet (or exoplanet), called Kepler 1625b was the only planet around the particular star. When analysing observations, researchers found one particular instance with interesting features and anomalies. This star is about the 70 percent larger than our Sun but is older and the planet is at the same distance from its star as Earth is to the Sun. Although the object was not visible but many evidences hinted towards its existence. Particularly, small deviations and wobbles were seen in the light curve. This was an interesting result based upon which researchers intensively studied the planet for around 40 hours using the 哈勃 telescope. Before and during the 19-hour transit of the planet across the star observations were recorded. The planet is thought to be revolving around its star in such way that it looks like a possible moon is pulling onto it gravitationally. When the planet moved in front of the star, the star’s light was dimmed very much hinting that there was something else present too. This dimness in stellar brightness was similar to the movement of the moon around the planet as only a moon could cause this kind of uncertain and wobbly path and this made for a strong evidence.
如果来自我们太阳系以外（地外）的人正在观察月球经过我们的行星地球，就会看到类似的观察结果和时间异常。 这个系外卫星距离它的恒星大约 2 万英里（3 万公里），实际上看起来比我们的月球在地球上的尺寸大两倍。 研究人员计划在未来的某个时候再次观测这颗恒星以进行进一步的验证，可能在2019年。他们在第一次尝试时所观察到的肯定指向了这个判断，因此排除了其他可能性。 此外，系外卫星及其行星的巨大尺寸帮助了研究人员，因为更大的东西更容易被探测到。 此外，由于月球围绕行星运行，因此它的位置会随着过境而不断变化。 这是一项了不起的成就，因为与宿主行星相比，卫星的大小很难定位，因此它们的凌日信号很弱。 宿主行星和月球都是气态实体，因此研究人员绝对不会寻找生命迹象。 尽管这两个实体都位于宿主恒星的宜居区域，由于温度适中，那里可能存在液态水或其他固体。
这是首次发现系外卫星。 这项研究提出了一个非凡的主张，许多天文学家认为所有这些信息都需要带着一些担忧来掌握，当然需要更多的证据和进一步的调查。 这项研究如果进一步成功，可以让我们更多地了解卫星是如何形成的，它们是由什么构成的，行星系统是如何发展的，以及太阳系与其他系统有什么共同点。
***
{您可以通过单击下面引用来源列表中给出的 DOI 链接来阅读原始研究论文}
来源（S）
Teachey A 和 Kipping DM 2018。大型系外卫星围绕 Kepler-1625b 运行的证据。 科学进展 03 年 2018 月 4 日：卷。 10，没有。 XNUMX、DOI：https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav1784
***
