Why in news?
These are new celestial bodies that have been defined by the astronomers
What are ploonets?
- Ploonets are orphaned moons that have escaped the bonds of their planetary parents.
- Planet + moon = Ploonet.
- The researchers explain that the angular momentum between the planet and its moon results in the moon escaping the gravitational pull of its parent.
- A new study suggests that the moons of gas-giant exoplanets may break away into their own orbits.
- As the gas giants move inward toward their suns, the orbits of their moons are often disrupted, according to new computer models.
- The scientists believe that these bodies will exist around their host stars in solitary orbits and could even be detected in observations from past and present exoplanet-hunting surveys, such as Kepler and TESS.
