Our moon may someday become a small planet, say researchers — a 'ploonet'

She may not be ours forever.

Photo credit: Tom White / Getty Images
  • A new study suggests that the moons of gas-giant exoplanets may break away into their own orbits, called "ploonets."
  • Planet + moon = ploonet.
  • As the gas giants move inward toward their suns, the orbits of their moons are often disrupted, according to new computer models.
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NASA's A.I. Discovers a Second Solar System With 8 Planets, Just Like Ours

A machine learning algorithm has shown it can discover planets from weak signals overlooked in the Kepler spacecraft’s database.

The Kepler planetary system and ours. Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/Wendy Stenzel

Humans in the Western world for a long time thought that Earth was the center of the universe. At one point, it was heresy not to think so. After the heliocentric universe was adopted, we felt smaller and less self-important. But we’d also gained something, new knowledge and a new avenue in which to explore the heavens. That was a paradigm shift in our understanding and now, it’s happening again.

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Start Planet-Hunting Right Now - Scientists Release Star Data and Search Tools to Public

Scientists release observation data from 1,600 stars in hopes the public can help find planets that orbit stars outside our solar system.

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