An artist’s impression of the gas giant Kepler-1708b, its moon Kepler-1708b-i, and their parent star. Image credit: Helena Valenzuela Widerström.
To understand the formation of extrasolar systems, the discovery and observation of exomoons is an important part that comes together with the analysis of their planets to form a complete picture.
Astronomer David Kipping and his team found an exomoon orbiting the Jupiter-sized exoplanet Kepler-1708b in an analysis using Kepler transit data. It lies within the habitable zone of its Sun-like host star Kepler-1708, which is located in the constellation of Cygnus approximately 5,600 light years away from Earth
Kepler-1708b-i is ~2.6 Earth radii and likely made of gas. It orbits its planet at a range twice as far as the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Future observations will be necessary to validate or reject the candidate.
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