A team of astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, to observe a new Jupiter-like planet outside our solar system – known as an “exoplanet” or “exosolar planet.” An exoplanet is the first new planet to be observed and imaged with a telescope that is not the first to be observed from Earth.
Astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, published a report of their discovery this week in the scientific journal Nature.
The study’s lead author, Elisabeth Matthews, described the planet as a gas giant, like Jupiter in our solar system, but six times Jupiter’s mass and much cooler, with an average surface temperature of 0 degrees Celsius. It also has an elliptical orbit around its star, taking between 100 and 250 Earth years to orbit it.
Matthews said the planet is relatively close by, by exoplanet standards, about 12 light-years away, and is in a triple star system. He said astronomers had known about the star system and, by studying it, they had theorized that there was a planet there, but needed JWST to confirm it.
Matthews and his team wanted to image the known planet using a method called direct imaging. Because the stars in this system are so bright, they outshine other objects nearby.
The team used a JWST camera equipped with a light-blocking mask that blocks out the starlight, allowing observers to see objects around it.
But he said that when they pointed the telescope's camera at the star system, the planet was not where they expected it to be, because they had miscalculated the planet's mass and its orbital distance from its star.
Matthews told the news agency the Associated Press that they could not have confirmed the planet's existence without JWST, and the findings illustrate how well the telescope works.
“This really shows that we can photograph these planets, and for now, we are still photographing Jupiter and the larger planets.” He said that in the future, using telescopes, they will also be able to photograph smaller planets.
Launched in 2021 as an international collaboration between the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/NASA), the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, JWST is the largest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever placed in space. Unlike its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST orbits the Sun, not Earth. (ft)
Some information comes from the Associated Press
