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posted by LaminatorX on Friday April 11 2014, @01:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the XOXOXO dept.

New Scientist, on authority of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reports that the first moon outside of our solar system may have been discovered.

It is not yet clear what double object MOA-2011-BLG-262 is: it may be a rogue planet with a massive moon about 1800 light years from Earth, or a faint star (brown or red dwarf) with a Neptune-sized planet much further away.

The discovery was made by telescopes in New Zealand and Tasmania during a micro-lensing event in 2011. Since the micro-lensing event is over and we don't know the distance of the double object, we can not distinguish between both possibilities.

(The discovery was published late 2013, but it is making mainstream news now.)

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 11 2014, @01:32PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 11 2014, @01:32PM (#30029)

    Ok, got that out of the way. Continue.

  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday April 11 2014, @01:42PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday April 11 2014, @01:42PM (#30039)

    That's no moon, that's yo momma!

    --
    "Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Friday April 11 2014, @06:07PM

      by davester666 (155) on Friday April 11 2014, @06:07PM (#30188)

      It's illegal to take an upskirt shot like this.