Overview
- A team led by Quentin Kral reports an exomoon candidate orbiting HD 206893 B about 133 light-years away, with the analysis accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics and available as a preprint.
- Astrometric data from VLTI/GRAVITY indicate a secondary body of roughly 0.4 Jupiter masses in a ~0.76‑year orbit around the ~28‑Jupiter‑mass companion.
- The authors describe the signal as provisional and call for additional GRAVITY observations and community scrutiny before any confirmation.
- The result showcases astrometry as a promising technique for exomoon searches after years of inconclusive candidates and highlights the need for cross‑checks to rule out systematics.
- Separately, a JWST campaign on Kepler‑167e led by David Kipping found a starspot to be a more likely explanation than a moon, underscoring the high bar for exomoon validation.