Search for possible exomoons with the FAST telescope

Lukić, Dragan V.

doi:10.1088/1674-4527/17/12/121

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Observationally, several different ways have been proposed for the search of exomoons (Kipping et al 2009;Simon et al 2009;Liebig & Wambsganss 2010;Peters & Turner 2013;Heller 2014;Agol et al 2015;Noyola et al 2016;Sengupta & Marley 2016;Forgan 2017;Lukić 2017;Berzosa Molina et al 2018;Vanderburg et al 2018). Transitbased techniques are the most promising methods given current observational capabilities, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collisional formation of massive exomoons of superterrestrial exoplanets

Malamud

Perets

Schäfer

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Exomoons orbiting terrestrial or super-terrestrial exoplanets have not yet been discovered; their possible existence and properties are therefore still an unresolved question. Here we explore the collisional formation of exomoons through giant planetary impacts. We make use of smooth particle hydrodynamical (SPH) collision simulations and survey a large phase-space of terrestrial/superterrestrial planetary collisions. We characterize the properties of such collisions, finding one rare case in which an exomoon forms through a graze & capture scenario, in addition to a few graze & merge or hit & run scenarios. Typically however, our collisions form massive circumplanetary discs, for which we use followup N-body simulations in order to derive lower-limit mass estimates for the ensuing exomoons. We investigate the mass, long-term tidal-stability, composition and origin of material in both the discs and the exomoons. Our giant-impact models often generate relatively iron-rich moons, that form beyond the synchronous radius of the planet, and would thus tidally evolve outward with stable orbits, rather than be destroyed. Our results suggest that it is extremely difficult to collisionally form currently-detectable exomoons orbiting super-terrestrial planets, through single giant impacts. It might be possible to form massive, detectable exomoons through several mergers of smaller exomoons, formed by multiple impacts, however more studies are required in order to reach a conclusion. Given the current observational initiatives, the search should focus primarily on more massive planet categories. However, about a quarter of the exomoons predicted by our models are approximately Mercury-mass or more, and are much more likely to be detectable given a factor 2 improvement in the detection capability of future instruments, providing further motivation for their development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collisional formation of massive exomoons of superterrestrial exoplanets

Malamud

Perets

Schäfer

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…The search for exomoons has recently become an active area of research that several groups are now competing in, mostly using space-based stellar photometry of exoplanetexomoons transits (Kipping et al 2012;Szabó et al 2013;Simon et al 2015;Hippke 2015) but also using alternatives such as radio emission from giant planets with magnetic fields that are perturbed by moons (Lukić 2017) or space-based coronographic methods such as spectroastrometry (Agol et al 2015). With the first tentative detection of exomoons or exorings recently claimed in the literature (Mamajek et al 2012;Bennett et al 2014;Udalski et al 2015;Aizawa et al 2017;Hill et al 2017;Teachey et al 2018;Rodenbeck et al 2018), a first unambiguous discovery could thus be imminent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring exomoon atmospheres with an idealized general circulation model

Haqq-Misra

Heller

2018

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Recent studies have shown that large exomoons can form in the accretion disks around super-Jovian extrasolar planets. These planets are abundant at about 1 AU from Sunlike stars, which makes their putative moons interesting for studies of habitability. Technological advances could soon make an exomoon discovery with Kepler or the upcoming CHEOPS and PLATO space missions possible. Exomoon climates might be substantially different from exoplanet climates because the day-night cycles on moons are determined by the moon's synchronous rotation with its host planet. Moreover, planetary illumination at the top of the moon's atmosphere and tidal heating at the moon's surface can be substantial, which can affect the redistribution of energy on exomoons. Using an idealized general circulation model with simplified hydrologic, radiative, and convective processes, we calculate surface temperature, wind speed, mean meridional circulation, and energy transport on a 2.5 Mars-mass moon orbiting a 10-Jupiter-mass at 1 AU from a Sun-like star. The strong thermal irradiation from a young giant planet causes the satellite's polar regions to warm, which remains consistent with the dynamically-driven polar amplification seen in Earth models that lack ice-albedo feedback. Thermal irradiation from young, luminous giant planets onto water-rich exomoons can be strong enough to induce water loss on a planet, which could lead to a runaway greenhouse. Moons that are in synchronous rotation with their host planet and do not experience a runaway greenhouse could experience substantial polar melting induced by the polar amplification of planetary illumination and geothermal heating from tidal effects.

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Search for possible exomoons with the FAST telescope

Cited by 2 publications

References 40 publications

Collisional formation of massive exomoons of superterrestrial exoplanets

Collisional formation of massive exomoons of superterrestrial exoplanets

Exploring exomoon atmospheres with an idealized general circulation model

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