JWST ruled out finding tiny moons around an exoplanet—that's great news

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has not found any exomoons around the exoplanet LP 890-9 c, despite extensive observations. The study, conducted by David Kipping, shows that the telescope can detect exomoons if they are observed repeatedly over multiple transits. The key finding is that instrumental noise and star-related factors, such as red noise, can obscure the signal, but combining data from multiple transits can increase the sensitivity to detecting exomoons. The research confirms that no exomoon larger than 0.1 Earth radii is present around LP 890-9 c, making this the most sensitive exomoon hunt ever conducted outside our solar system. The exoplanet orbits a red dwarf star at a distance that makes tidal forces extremely strong, potentially leading to the moon's destruction or ejection. Kipping's paper demonstrates that JWST is capable of detecting small exomoons, provided enough transits are observed. The study highlights the importance of averaging data from multiple transits to overcome instrumental noise. The research is not aimed at finding the first exomoon but rather to establish a method for detecting them using JWST. The study was published in preprint form on arXiv, and it is expected to be published in a journal in the near future.

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