We present two methods to determine an exomoon's sense of orbital motion
(SOM), one with respect to the planet's circumstellar orbit and one with
respect to the planetary rotation. Our simulations show that the required
measurements will be possible with the European Extremely Large Telescope
(E-ELT). The first method relies on mutual planet-moon events during stellar
transits. Eclipses with the moon passing behind (in front of) the planet will
be late (early) with regard to the moon's mean orbital period due to the finite
speed of light. This "transit timing dichotomy" (TTD) determines an exomoon's
SOM with respect to the circumstellar motion. For the ten largest moons in the
solar system, TTDs range between 2 and 12 s. The E-ELT will enable such
measurements for Earth-sized moons around nearby stars. The second method
measures distortions in the IR spectrum of the rotating giant planet when it is
transited by its moon. This Rossiter-McLaughlin effect (RME) in the planetary
spectrum reveals the angle between the planetary equator and the moon's
circumplanetary orbital plane, and therefore unveils the moon's SOM with
respect to the planet's rotation. A reasonably large moon transiting a directly
imaged planet like beta Pic b causes an RME amplitude of almost 100 m/s, about
twice the stellar RME amplitude of the transiting exoplanet HD209458b. Both new
methods can be used to probe the origin of exomoons, that is, whether they are
regular or irregular in nature.Comment: accepted by ApJ Letters, 6 pages, 5 figures (2 color
