Latest news with #14Herculis
Forbes
2 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
Webb Telescope Photographs ‘Strange' Cold Planet Around Nearby Star
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first direct image of an exoplanet — a planet orbiting a star other than the sun — despite it being extremely cold. The planet, called 14 Herculis c, could give scientists a new perspective on how planetary systems across the Milky Way galaxy evolve. As exoplanets go, o, 14 Herculis c is huge — about seven times the mass of Jupiter. It can be found between the bright stars Vega and Arcturus in the night sky tonight, in the constellation Hercules, 'The Hero.' It's about 60 light-years from the solar system. 14 Herculis c is one of the coldest exoplanets ever directly imaged by a telescope. Most directly imaged exoplanets are extremely hot, but 14 Herculis is just 26 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 3 degrees Celsius). 14 Herculis c orbits an almost sun-like star, but it's not alone. There's a second planet closer to the host star that's hidden by the black disk in the image, above, called a coronagraph, which the Webb Telescope uses to block out the star's light, making its search for dim planets easier. If it was in the solar system, 14 Herculis c would be approximately 15 times farther from the sun than Earth — about 1.4 billion miles. That would put it somewhere between the sixth planet, Saturn, and the seventh planet, Uranus. Unlike the solar system, where all planets orbit the sun in the same plane, the two planets in the 14 Herculis star system are misaligned, with their orbital planes inclined relative to one another at an angle of about 40 degrees. Scientists believe a third planet may have been violently ejected from the system early in its formation, resulting in the unusual misalignment. 'The early evolution of our own solar system was dominated by the movement and pull of our own gas giants, [which] threw around asteroids and rearranged other planets,' said William Balmer, co-first author of a paper accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and presented in a press conference Tuesday, June 10 at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska. 'It reminds us that something similar could have happened to our own solar system and that the outcomes for small planets like Earth are often dictated by much larger forces.' The Webb Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) was able to directly image 14 Herculis c because it can capture near-infrared light — radiation just beyond the visible spectrum. That's critical to this observation because cold objects shine brightly only in infrared light. 'The colder an exoplanet, the harder it is to image, so this is a new regime of study that Webb has unlocked with its extreme sensitivity in the infrared,' said Balmer. 'We are now able to add to the catalog of not just hot, young exoplanets imaged, but older exoplanets that are far colder than we've directly seen before Webb.' The Webb Telescope has a primary mirror with a diameter of 21 feet/6.5 meters. It's made from beryllium and made-up of 18 hexagonal segments, each one covered in a super-thin layer of gold that's perfect for reflecting infrared light. It was designed to last for five-10 years, but fuel-saving during its precise launch on Christmas Day, 2021, means it's now expected to last for up to 20 years.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Webb telescope glimpses coldest exoplanet yet found: What to know about gas giant
"Abnormal, chaotic and strange" are just a few adjectives astronomers are using to describe a perplexing planetary system 60 light-years from Earth. And for one of the two exoplanets orbiting the system's central star, you can add this descriptor: cold. Surprisingly frigid, in fact. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently turned its attention to the distant planetary system in our Milky Way galaxy to gather new and unexpected insights for a team of researchers. Using Webb's near-infrared camera (NIRCam), which shows reflected light, the team was able to image one of two known planets orbiting a star known as 14 Herculis. Among the nearly 6,000 exoplanets so far discovered, those that have been imaged tend to be incredibly hot – temperatures at times reaching into thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. But that wasn't the case for this exoplanet, known as 14 Herculis c. Not only is 14 Herculis c not hot at all, it's uncommonly cold. The exoplanet is so cold, in fact, that the team of researchers claims it is the coldest exoplanet imaged to date, NASA said in a blog post June 10. Here's what to know about exoplanets, and what makes the discovery about 14 Herculis c significant. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars outside Earth's solar system. For that reason, these celestial bodies are sometimes also referred to as extrasolar planets. Some, called rogue planets, don't even orbit a star, but rather are floating through the cosmos untethered. An exoplanet known as K2-18b even achieved a degree of fame in April when a team of astronomers claimed to have found in its atmosphere "the strongest evidence yet" that life exists anywhere else besides Earth. Other scientists have since cast doubt on the findings. Astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 5,800 exoplanets, but billions are thought to exist, according to NASA. Webb's new image of 14 Herculis c has given researchers insight into the exoplanet's temperature, strange orbit and atmosphere. The exoplanet is one of at least two gas giants – both significantly bigger than Jupiter – that have been observed orbiting a central star, 14 Herculis, that is similar in age and temperature to Earth's sun, but a little less massive and not as hot. Neither orbits the host star in the same way planets in our solar system do, but instead cross each other in a pattern that resembles an X, according to NASA. Though the other exoplanet, 14 Herculis b, has been observed before, the new data suggests 14 Herculis c, which is about seven times the mass of Jupiter, is as cold as 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Webb has become famous for snapping gorgeous images of the cosmos, but the photo the telescope captured of 14 Herculis c is far from as eye-catching. That's because astronomers struggle to image planets orbiting stars other than our own sun. Why? The stars often outshine their planets, which tend to be a little too close to their stars. Still, even a simple grainy image like this one depicting what appears to be a distant dot is packed with information for astronomers. The team's findings have been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and were presented June 10 at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska. The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in 2021, far surpasses the abilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, launched 35 years ago in 1990. Orbiting the sun rather than Earth, the Webb is outfitted with a gold-coated mirror and powerful infrared instruments to observe the cosmos like no instrument before. Since reaching the cosmos, Webb has not only facilitated countless scientific breakthroughs in astrophysics, but it also has produced gorgeous images of planets and other celestial objects, including star-forming regions. In March, NASA also deployed into orbit its SPHEREx telescope to collect data on more than 450 million galaxies. Scientists say the SPHEREx observatory will be able to get a wider view of the galaxy – identifying objects of scientific interest that telescopes like Hubble and Webb can then study up close. SPHEREx became operational in May, constantly snapping images of the cosmos. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coldest exoplanet yet found has 'strange' orbit around its star: Study
USA Today
2 days ago
- Science
- USA Today
NASA's Webb telescope glimpses coldest exoplanet yet found: What to know about gas giant
NASA's Webb telescope glimpses coldest exoplanet yet found: What to know about gas giant An exoplanet 60 light-years away from Earth, known as 14 Herculis c, is thought to be as cold as 26 degrees Fahrenheit. "Abnormal, chaotic and strange" are just a few adjectives astronomers are using to describe a perplexing planetary system located 60 light-years from Earth. And for one of the two exoplanets orbiting the system's central star, you can add this descriptor: Cold. Surprisingly frigid, in fact. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently turned its attention to the distant planetary system in our Milky Way galaxy to gather new and unexpected insights for a team of researchers. Using Webb's near-infrared camera (NIRCam), which shows reflected light, the team was able to image one of two known planets surrounding a star known as 14 Herculis. Among the nearly 6,000 exoplanets so far discovered, those that have been imaged tend to be incredibly hot – with temperatures at times reaching into thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. But that wasn't the case for this exoplanet, known as 14 Herculis c. Not only is 14 Herculis c not hot at all, it's uncommonly cold. The exoplanet is so cold, in fact, that the team of researchers claims it is the coldest one imaged to date, NASA said in a Tuesday, June 10, blog post. Here's what to know about exoplanets, and what makes the discovery about 14 Herculis c significant. What are exoplanets? Exoplanets are any planets that orbit stars outside of Earth's own solar system. For that reason, these celestial bodies are sometimes also referred to as extrasolar planets. Some, called rogue planets, don't even orbit a star, but are rather floating through the cosmos untethered. An exoplanet known as K2-18b even achieved a degree of fame in April when a team of astronomers claimed to have found in its atmosphere "the strongest evidence yet" that life exists anywhere else besides Earth. Other scientists have since cast doubt on the findings. Astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 5,800 exoplanets, but billions are thought to exist, according to NASA. New exoplanet image from NASA's Webb suggest freezing temps Webb's new image of 14 Herculis c has given researchers insight into the exoplanet's temperature, strange orbit and atmosphere. The exoplanet is one of at least two gas giants – both significantly bigger than Jupiter – that have been observed orbiting a central star, 14 Herculis, that is similar in age and temperature to Earth's sun, but a little less massive and not as hot. Neither orbits the host star in the same way planets in our solar system do, but instead cross each other in a pattern that resembles an "X," according to NASA. While the other exoplanet, 14 Herculis b, has been observed before, the new data suggests 14 Herculis c, which is about seven times the mass of Jupiter, is as cold as 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Webb has become famous for snapping gorgeous images of the cosmos, but the photo the telescope captured of 14 Herculis c is far from as eye-catching. That's because astronomers struggle to image planets orbiting stars other than our own sun. Why? The stars often outshine their planets, which tend to be a little too close to their stars. Still, even a simple grainy image like this one depicting what appears to be a distant dot is packed with information for astronomers. The team's findings have been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and were presented Tuesday, June 10, at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska. What is the James Webb Space Telescope? The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in 2021, far surpasses the abilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, launched 35 years ago in 1990. Orbiting the sun rather than Earth, the Webb is outfitted with a gold-coated mirror and powerful infrared instruments to observe the cosmos like no instrument before. Since reaching the cosmos, Webb has not only facilitated countless scientific breakthroughs in astrophysics, but has produced plenty of gorgeous images of planets and other celestial objects like star-forming regions. In March 2025, NASA also deployed into orbit its SPHEREx telescope to collect data on more than 450 million galaxies. Scientists say the SPHEREx observatory will be able to get a wider view of the galaxy – identifying objects of scientific interest that telescopes like Hubble and Webb can then go study up close. SPHEREx officially became operational in May, constantly snapping images of the cosmos. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
