NASA Finds Signs of an Io-Like Volcanic Exomoon Just 635 Light-Years Away

The existence of a moon located outside our solar system has never been confirmed but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence for one.

Researchers at NASANASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government agency responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Established in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA has led the U.S. in space exploration efforts, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle program." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have identified a sodium cloud near the exoplanetAn exoplanet (or extrasolar planet) is a planet that is located outside our Solar System, orbiting around a star other than the Sun. The first suspected scientific detection of an exoplanet occurred in 1988, with the first confirmation of detection coming in 1992." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">exoplanet WASP-49 b, which may indicate the presence of a volcanic exomoon similar to JupiterJupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. It is a gas giant with a mass greater then all of the other planets combined. Its name comes from the Roman god Jupiter." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">Jupiter’s moon Io. This potential discovery could provide insight into planetary systems beyond our own, though further observation and analysis are needed to confirm the exomoon’s existence and characteristics.

Recent research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPLJPL stands for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a major research and development center funded by NASA and managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). It is located in Pasadena, California, and specializes in the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft and conducting Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. JPL has been instrumental in many significant space exploration missions, including the Mars Rover missions, the Voyager missions to the outer solar system, and the development of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">JPL) indicates signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The primary evidence is a sodium cloud that appears close to, but slightly out of sync with, the exoplanet—a Saturn-size gas giant named WASP-49 b. Further investigation is required to confirm the cloud’s behavior. Similarly, in our solar system, gas emissions from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io create a comparable phenomenon.

While no exomoons have yet been confirmed, several candidates have been identified. It’s likely these planetary companions have gone undetected because they are too small and dim for current telescopes to detect.

Exomoons — moons around planets outside our solar system — are most likely too small to observe directly with current technology. In this video, learn how scientists tracked the motion of a sodium cloud 635 light-years away and found that it could be created by volcanos on a potential exomoon.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The sodium cloud around WASP-49 b was first detected in 2017, catching the attention of Apurva Oza, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and now a staff scientist at Caltech, which manages JPL. Oza has spent years investigating how exomoons might be detected via their volcanic activity. For example, Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system, constantly spews sulfur dioxide, sodium, potassium, and other gases that can form vast clouds around Jupiter up to 1,000 times the giant planet’s radius. It’s possible that astronomers looking at another star system could detect a gas cloud like Io’s even if the moon itself were too small to see.

Both WASP-49 b and its star are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of sodium. Neither contains enough sodium to account for the cloud, which appears to be coming from a source that is producing roughly 220,000 pounds (100,000 kilograms) of sodium per second. Even if the star or planet could produce that much sodium, it’s unclear what mechanism could eject it into space.

Could the source be a volcanic exomoon? Oza and his colleagues set out to try to answer that question. The work immediately proved challenging because from such a great distance, the star, planet, and cloud often overlap and occupy the same tiny, faraway point in space. So the team had to watch the system over time.

As detailed in a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters<em>The Astrophysical Journal Letters</em> (often abbreviated as <em>ApJL</em>) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and a part of <em>The Astrophysical Journal</em> family. It specifically focuses on publishing rapid communications about recent, significant discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. Launched in 1967, <em>ApJL</em> offers a venue for astronomers and astrophysicists to quickly disseminate urgent findings to the scientific community." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">Astrophysical Journal Letters, they found several pieces of evidence that suggest the cloud is created by a separate body orbiting the planet, though additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. For example, twice their observations indicated the cloud suddenly increased in size, as if being refueled, when it was not next to the planet.

They also observed the cloud moving faster than the planet in a way that would seem impossible unless it was being generated by another body moving independent of, and faster, than the planet.

“We think this is a really critical piece of evidence,” said Oza. “The cloud is moving in the opposite direction that physics tells us it should be going if it were part of the planet’s atmosphere.”

While these observations have intrigued the research team, they say they would need to observe the system for longer to be sure of the cloud’s orbit and structure.

For part of their sleuthing, the researchers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large TelescopeThe Very Large Telescope array (VLT) is a visible and infrared wavelength telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is the world's most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes." data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">Very Large Telescope in Chile. Oza’s co-author Julia Seidel, a research fellow at the observatory, established that the cloud is located high above the planet’s atmosphere, much like the cloud of gas Io produces around Jupiter.

They also used a computer model to illustrate the exomoon scenario and compare it to the data. The exoplanet WASP-49 b orbits the star every 2.8 days with clocklike regularity, but the cloud appeared and disappeared behind the star or behind the planet at seemingly irregular intervals. Using their model, Oza and team showed that a moon with an eight-hour orbit around the planet could explain the cloud’s motion and activity, including the way it sometimes seemed to move in front of the planet and did not seem to be associated with a particular region of the planet.

“The evidence is very compelling that something other than the planet and star are producing this cloud,” said Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at JPL who co-authored the study with Oza. “Detecting an exomoon would be quite extraordinary, and because of Io, we know that a volcanic exomoon is possible.”

On Earth, volcanoes are driven by heat in its core left over from the planet’s formation. Io’s volcanoes, on the other hand, are driven by Jupiter’s gravity, which squeezes the moon as it gets closer to the planet and then reduces its “grip” as the moon moves away. This flexing heats the small moon’s interior, leading to a process called tidal volcanism.

If WASP-49 b has a moon similar in size to Earth’s, Oza and the team estimate that the rapid loss of mass combined with the squeezing from the planet’s gravity will eventually cause it to disintegrate.

“If there really is a moon there, it will have a very destructive ending,” said Oza.

Reference: “Redshifted Sodium Transient near Exoplanet Transit” by Apurva V. Oza, Julia V. Seidel, H. Jens Hoeijmakers, Athira Unni, Aurora Y. Kesseli, Carl A. Schmidt, Thirupathi Sivarani, Aaron Bello-Arufe, Andrea Gebek, Moritz Meyer zu Westram, Sérgio G. Sousa, Rosaly M. C. Lopes, Renyu Hu, Katherine de Kleer, Chloe Fisher, Sébastien Charnoz, Ashley D. Baker, Samuel P. Halverson, Nick M. Schneider, Angelica Psaridi, Aurélien Wyttenbach, Santiago Torres, Ishita Bhatnagar and Robert E. Johnson, 30 September 2024, The Astrophysical Journal Letters.DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad6b29