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By NASA
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This artist’s concept depicts a potential volcanic moon between the exoplanet WASP-49 b, left, and its parent star. New evidence indicating that a massive sodium cloud observed near WASP-49 b is produced by neither the planet nor the star has prompted researchers to ask if its origin could be an exomoon.NASA/JPL-Caltech 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.
New research done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveals potential signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The biggest clue is a sodium cloud that the findings suggest is close to but slightly out of sync with the exoplanet, a Saturn-size gas giant named WASP-49 b, although additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. Within our solar system, gas emissions from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io create a similar phenomenon.
Although no exomoons (moons of planets outside our solar system) have been confirmed, multiple 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.
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.
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. NASA/JPL-Caltech 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.
A Cloud on the Move
As detailed in a new study published in the 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.
New NASA-led research suggests a sodium cloud seen around the exoplanet WASP-49 b might be created by a volcanic moon, which is depicted in this artist’s concept. Jupiter’s fiery moon Io produces a similar cloud. NASA/JPL-Caltech 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.
A Chance of Volcanic Clouds
For part of their sleuthing, the researchers used the European Southern Observatory’s 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.”
A Violent End
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 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 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.
News Media Contact
Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-808-2469
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-135
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Last Updated Oct 10, 2024 Related Terms
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Sols 4316-4317: Hunting for Sulfur
This image was taken by the Left Navigation Camera (NavCam) aboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, and captures the bright stones of the “Sheep Creek” target — just above the rover wheel – which strongly resemble elemental sulfur blocks identified earlier in the traverse. This image was taken on sol 4314, Martian day 4,314 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, on Sept. 24, 2024, at 20:24:50 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024
Navigating the rugged, unforgiving Martian terrain is always a challenge, and our recent attempt to reach the “Sheep Creek” target highlights this. We had aimed for small, distant bright rocks, but from 50 meters away (about 164 feet), the limited resolution of our images made it difficult to fine-tune navigation. After an ambitious drive, the rover came agonizingly close — stopping just short of these small bright rocks. The rocks, with their distinctive rounded and pitted “weathering” pattern (pictured), strongly resemble elemental sulfur blocks that we’ve encountered before. Frustratingly, although the target rocks were right under the front wheel and clearly visible in our navigation cameras, they remained just out of reach of the rover’s arm.
While the rover’s arm couldn’t quite reach the bright stones of Sheep Creek, we didn’t let that stop us and planned to use other onboard instruments to help us analyze the composition, textures, and context before we move to our next position. As the Keeper of the Plan for the Geology and Mineralogy theme group, my role was to ensure all those activities were recorded in the plan.
To find out the composition of the stones of Sheep Creek, we used ChemCam (our onboard laser) to observe two promising stones we’ve named “Arch Rock” and “Ash Mountain.” We’re hoping to see if they have any evidence of elemental sulfur as their appearance suggests. For a closer look at the texture, we will take high-resolution, color images with Mastcam (which you can also view in 3D with red and blue anaglyph glasses!). We also want to look at an interesting transition between light-colored and dark-colored bedrock nearby, which we will cover with more high-resolution, colored images. This transition could give us clues about where the unusual white rocks of Sheep Creek came from and how they formed.
We had our eye on another bright rock in the area, named “Beryl Lake.” It had an interesting bright-toned crusty appearance and as we could reach it with the rover arm, we used our APXS tool (think of it as a chemical scanner) to see its composition and if it had any traces of sulfur. We took a closer look with our rover hand lens (MAHLI) at a rock called “Aster Lake,” which had intriguing white patches that might be similar to the stones of Sheep Creek. Ultimately, our science goal this plan was to collect data on whether these bright-toned stones had evidence of elemental sulfur and increase our understanding on how they formed.
Next, we’ll carefully reposition the rover to move closer to these interesting targets — a maneuver that we call a “bump” — so that next plan, set to occur over the weekend, we’ll be able to get up close and personal with the white stones of Sheep Creek. While the rover waits for the weekend plan, we’re setting up the rover to do some “untargeted” science after the drive. This includes using an automated tool called AEGIS that finds interesting targets on its own and zaps them with the ChemCam laser. Plus, it’s a good time to record some observations of the modern Martian environment, so we’ll make the most of the time to measure dust levels, take movies that will hopefully capture some dust devils, and look at clouds — if any — in the Martian sky.
We’re looking forward to the weekend plan to hopefully get another chance to do some contact science on targets that may be rich in sulfur!
Written by Amelie Roberts, Ph.D. Candidate at Imperial College London
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Last Updated Sep 27, 2024 Related Terms
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