IIA researchers develop model to find exomoons around distant stars

Two researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, have developed a model that can use the data obtained from the recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to confirm the presence of these elusive exomoons.

Launched in December 2021, the JWST is a combined effort of scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. (Express/File)

Soon, astronomers peering into the deep skies could get a tad luckier in identifying the yet undiscovered exomoons – a moon which revolves around distant stars. Two researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, have developed a model that can use the data obtained from the recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to confirm the presence of these elusive exomoons.

Launched in December 2021, the JWST is a combined effort of scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. With a primary mirror measuring 6.5 metres in diameter, JWST is the largest and the most advanced space-based telescope built so far. This mirror comprises 18 gold-plated hexagonal segments and can function in the infrared, visible and mid-infrared wavelengths and will be used to study the unexplored areas of our universe.

Read in Explained | Explained: NASA’s Webb Telescope and the first look at the universe from 13 billion years ago

While over 5,000 exoplanets — a planet outside our solar system and revolving around another star — have been discovered so far, astronomers are yet to confirm the detection of any exomoon. This is mainly because of limited observational capacities even when both the ground and space-based telescopes are combined. Besides, the moons are too small in size than the planets, thus underlining the need for strong signal detection capacities by telescopes.

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However, these limitations will soon be history, all thanks to the JWST, the researchers shared.

“The JWST is powerful to detect signals from the exomoons. We are entering a new era of tracing exomoons,” IIA scientist Professor Sujan Sengupta, lead author of the latest study, told The Indian Express.

On the importance of this model and its scope in future, Sengupta said, “Life can exist even on such moons when they are located in a habitable zone if they have rocky surfaces, have appropriate temperatures that support organisms and can maintain water in its liquid form.”

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Indian Institute of Astrophysics