On the radio detection of multiple-exomoon systems due to plasma torus sharing

TL;DR

This paper explores how multiple exomoons sharing plasma tori with their host exoplanets can produce detectable radio emissions, extending previous single-moon detection methods to more complex systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of plasma-torus-sharing among exomoons as a novel mechanism for radio detection of multiple exomoon systems.

Findings

Plasma sharing enhances radio detectability of exomoons.

Predicted radio signals have specific power and frequency ranges.

Sharing plasma tori can compensate for exomoons' plasma deficiencies.

Abstract

The idea of single exomoon detection due to the radio emissions caused by its interaction with the host exoplanet is extended to multiple-exomoon systems. The characteristic radio emissions are made possible in part by plasma from the exomoons own ionosphere (Noyola et. al. 2014). In this work, it is demonstrated that neighboring exomoons and the exoplanetary magnetosphere could also provide enough plasma to generate a detectable signal. In particular, the plasma-torus-sharing phenomenon is found to be particularly well suited to facilitate the radio detection of plasma-deficient exomoons. The efficiency of this process is evaluated, and the predicted power and frequency of the resulting radio signals are presented.