The Search for Exomoons is On

An artist's conception of a potentially-habitable exomoon. It seems reasonable that exoplanets have exomoons, and now we're going to look for them. Credit: NASA

Moons are the norm in our Solar System. The International Astronomical Union recognizes 288 planetary moons, and more keep being discovered. Saturn has a whopping 146 moons. Every planet except Mercury and Venus has moons, and their lack of moons is attributed to their small size and proximity to the Sun.

It seems reasonable that there are moons around exoplanets in other Solar Systems, and now we’re going to start looking for them with the James Webb Space Telescope.

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Astronomers Find a Planet With Three Times the Mass of Jupiter

Astronomers have discovered the exoplanet Kepler-88 d, a planet three times more massive than Jupiter. Illustration Credit: W. M. KECK OBSERVATORY/ADAM MAKARENKO

Jupiter is the Boss.

Well, in terms of planets in our Solar System it is. It’s played a huge role in shaping the Solar System due to its mass and its gravity. Here’s a few ways it’s shaped our system:

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