Tidally detached exomoon

Tidally detached exomoons, also known as orphaned exomoons[1] or ploonets,[2] are hypothetical exoplanets that were formerly exomoons of another planet, before being ejected from their orbits around their parent planets by tidal forces during planetary migration, and becoming planets in their own right.[3][4] As of 2024, no tidally detached moons have yet been definitively detected, but they are believed to be likely to exist around other stars, and potentially detectable by photometric methods. Researchers at Columbia University have suggested that a disrupting detached exomoon may be causing the unusual fluctuations in brightness exhibited by Tabby's Star.[5]

  1. ^ Metzger, Brian D.; Stone, Nicholas C.; Martinez, Miguel (20 June 2019). "Orphaned Exomoons: Tidal Detachment and Evaporation Following an Exoplanet-Star Collision". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 489 (4): 5119. arXiv:1906.08788. Bibcode:2019MNRAS.489.5119M. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz2464. S2CID 195316956.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Sucerquia, Mario; Alvarado-Montes, Jaime A.; Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Cuello, Nicolas; Giuppone, Cristian (27 June 2019). "Ploonets: formation, evolution, and detectability of tidally detached exomoons". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 489 (2): 2313. arXiv:1906.11400. Bibcode:2019MNRAS.489.2313S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz2110. S2CID 195700030.
  4. ^ Grossman, David (10 July 2019). "They're Not Moons. They're Not Planets. They're Ploonets". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  5. ^ Starr, Michelle (18 September 2019). "There's a New Explanation For Mysterious Tabby's Star: A Melting Ploonet". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 19 September 2019.