globe is the only place we know as yet where life exists and prosper . Other places that may have or had life are Mars , or the icy Moon Europa and Enceladus . Outside the Solar System , however , it becomes even more of an clear interrogation . Exoplanets in the habitable zona are the subject of many existing searches , but over the last few age , investigator have had another target : exomoons .
If there are planet there must be moons . However , despite the numerous exoplanets discovered in the last brace of decade , no exomoons have been found yet , although somecandidates have been observedthat have intrigued investigator . This has led some to wonder if life could live on such worlds . Dr Phil Sutton , a planetary scientist at the University of Lincoln , has written an interesting article about this very subject instigate by one of the most notable space enfranchisement of all : Star Wars .
“ From the cold desert moon Jedha and the wood moon Endor , to the rebel military headquarters on the jungle moon Yavin 4 , synodic month have toy an of import part of theStar Warslandscape , ” Dr Suttonwrote in his post .
inhabitable exomoons have not been the stress of much enquiry but they are found so commonly in science fiction , Dr Sutton point out to IFLScience . And though the observations are not there yet , exciting theoretic report suggest that these world could be inhabitable and perhaps there ’s a better chance for them to host living .
“ An interesting idea is that they have the potential to be habitable further away from their star than the inhabitable zone would commonly tolerate . So they have a wider range of possible conditions that could be habitable in , possibly , ” Dr Sutton say IFLScience .
There are some event though . terrestrial scientists do n’t imagine that planets , even very turgid ones , would be capable to hold on to moon as big as Earth if they were in the inner component part of their star organization .
“ A more likely scenario for a planet to have a sufficiently great moon that would be habitable , like those inStar Wars , is if they were smaller planets that hail to close to the planet and were captured . We do know this can happen as Neptune trance a dwarf satellite with an standard pressure , which is now recognize as Triton , ” Dr Sutton explain .
Dr Sutton see at the opening of moons around J1407b , an exoplanet that famously has a ring arrangement 200 time great than Saturn ’s own . The simulation he ran , alas , evoke thatmoons are unlikelyto exist in this organisation .
More watching are being conducted in this exceptional field , but there are obvious challenges . Only a pocket-size amount of ground - size planets are be intimate , and look for something much smaller and more difficult to detect with the current method , might be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack .
But you never know , an unlikely discovery might happen just when we least await it .
