Latest news with #TWA7b
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb telescope captures images of possible newly discovered exoplanet
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured evidence of a planet beyond the solar system for the first time since its launch in 2021. The exoplanet, a planet beyond our solar system, has been dubbed TWA 7b and orbits the young nearby star TWA 7, NASA said. Scientists believe the exoplanet is around the mass of Saturn and is about 50 times the distance of Earth from the Sun, according to NASA. Usually, planets of this size outside of our solar system are difficult to detect, but scientists used a technique called high-contrast imaging to detect the exoplanet, NASA said. Images of the exoplanet were taken using a coronagraph, which allows researchers to suppress the bright glare of a star to reveal faint nearby objects. Scientists said there was a very small chance the images could show a background galaxy, but evidence "strongly points to the source being a previously undiscovered planet." "Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass," said lead researcher Anne-Marie Lagrange. The exoplanet could be a young and cold planet with a mass around 0.3 times that of Jupiter and a temperature near 120 degrees Fahrenheit, according to initial analysis from researchers. The first time scientists discovered an exoplanet was back in 1992. Astronomers have discovered nearly 6,000 exoplanets since then, but none of them are known to be habitable. Hegseth slams Iran strikes initial assessment that contradicts Trump's take Young Cuban girl asks Trump to lift travel ban stopping her from joining mom in U.S. Hegseth lashes out at media over Iran strike reporting
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb Space Telescope's discovery of Saturn-like planet is total flex of its imaging power
Astronomers continue to expand the opportunities of discovery using Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, and the recent findings of a possible Saturn twin is another first for the powerful instrument. A team of astronomers used Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument to detect the faint source of light within the debris surrounding a 6.4-million-year-old star known as TWA 7, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. What's exciting about this faint signal is that its brightness, color and distance from its star match theoretical predictions for a young, cold Saturn-mass planet. First Celestial Images From 10-Year Project Photographing The Universe Released "Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass," said Anne-Marie Lagrange, lead author of the paper and CNRS researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and Université Grenoble Alpes. To find this hidden planet within the debris disk, the researchers used MIRI's coronagraph to suppress the bright light of the host star to search for any faint nearby objects. According to NASA, this technique is called high-contract imaging and allows astronomers to find objects like exoplanets that would otherwise be completely washed out by the light from their host stars. Astronomers Detect Pulse From Satellite That Has Been Dead For Decades The image above is a combination of ground-based observations from ESO's Very Large Telescope and data from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument. The star is marked with a circle and a star symbol; the bright orange spot to the right of the star is the possible planet dubbed TWA 7b within the debris disc. According to the study, TWA 7b has a mass about the same as Saturn and a temperature of around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If confirmed, the planet orbiting star TWA 7 will be Webb's first direct image discovery of a low-mass planet and the lightest ever seen using high-contract imaging. More observations will hopefully confirm the planet article source: James Webb Space Telescope's discovery of Saturn-like planet is total flex of its imaging power
CBS News
8 hours ago
- Science
- CBS News
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captures images of what's believed to be newly discovered exoplanet
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured evidence of a planet beyond the solar system for the first time since its launch in 2021. The exoplanet, a planet beyond our solar system, has been dubbed TWA 7b and orbits the young nearby star TWA 7, NASA said. Scientists believe the exoplanet is around the mass of Saturn and is about 50 times the distance of Earth from the Sun, according to NASA. Usually, planets of this size outside of our solar system are difficult to detect, but scientists used a technique called high-contrast imaging to detect the exoplanet, NASA said. Images of the exoplanet were taken using a coronagraph, which allows researchers to suppress the bright glare of a star to reveal faint nearby objects. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7. Space Telescope Science Institute Scientists said there was a very small chance the images could show a background galaxy, but evidence "strongly points to the source being a previously undiscovered planet." "Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass," said lead researcher Anne-Marie Lagrange. The exoplanet could be a young and cold planet with a mass around 0.3 times that of Jupiter and a temperature near 120 degrees Fahrenheit, according to initial analysis from researchers. The first time scientists discovered an exoplanet was back in 1992. Astronomers have discovered nearly 6,000 exoplanets since then, but none of them are known to be habitable.
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
James Webb telescope captures its first direct image of a glowing exoplanet the size of Saturn
It's provided us with stunning pictures of distant galaxies, nebulae and dying stars. But now, for the first time ever, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured an unprecedented image of an exoplanet outside our solar system. The planet, dubbed TWA 7b, was found orbiting a young red dwarf star about 111 light-years from Earth. Scientists estimate the celestial body is roughly the same mass as that of Saturn, or 100 times larger than Earth. That makes TWA 7b the smallest exoplanet ever directly observed - 10 times less massive than previous discoveries. Although the JWST has discovered hundreds of exoplanets, these have all been found indirectly by carefully watching the host star. However, by simulating the effects of an eclipse, scientists were able to filter out the excess starlight and spot the exoplanet's faint infrared glow. Lead researcher Dr Anne-Marie Lagrange, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory, told MailOnline: 'Detecting exoplanets is not easy in general. Imaging them is even more challenging. This is why the lightest planets imaged before TWA 7b [were] massive giants, a few times Jupiter's mass.' This image combines ground-based data from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and data from the JWST. The star has been hidden and marked with a white star symbol. The blue region shows the debris field spotted by the VLT and the orange circle is the exoplanet as seen by the JWST Exoplanets, any planet outside the solar system, are small and appear to be extremely close to their star when seen from Earth. Since they don't give off much light of their own, this makes them extremely hard to see against the bright background. Scientists normally find exoplanets using the 'transit method', which involves watching the planet pass in front of its parent star and measuring how much the light dims. However, 20 years ago Dr Lagrange and her colleagues developed a technique using a device called a 'coronagraph' to block out the light of distant stars. This allowed her to see the rings of material floating around distant stars for the very first time. Dr Lagrange and her colleagues decided to focus on stars that they could see from the 'top-down', looking down on the star's pole to give a bird's eye view of the planetary system. They also chose to look for young stars since these have rings of material which are still glowing with heat, making them easier to spot. Astronomers already knew that the 6.4-million-year-old TWA 7 star had three distinct rings of debris which could be seen from the top down - making it an ideal target for the JWST. Using the coronagraph mounted on the space telescope the researchers blocked out the light from the star and then removed any residual glow using image processing. This revealed a faint source of infrared radiation within TWA 7's debris field, about 50 times farther from the star than Earth is to the Sun. This source was located in a 'hole' within one particularly narrow dust ring. That told Dr Lagrange that she was likely looking at a young planet which was just starting to affect debris in its orbital path. Although there is a very slim possibility that this signal could be a galaxy far in the background, initial analysis suggests it is likely to be a young, cold planet with a temperature of 47°C (120°F). Dr Lagrange says: 'Clearly it formed in a disk a few million years ago. It has gravitational interactions with the debris disk.' Dr Lagrange also says that a thin ring of material forming around the planet's orbit, known as a Trojan Ring, was predicted by models but had never been observed before. This discovery is exciting because it is the first time an exoplanet the size of the planets in our solar system has been directly observed. This is the smallest exoplanet ever directly observed but the JWST (pictured) has the potential to image planets just 10 per cent of Jupiter's mass Exoplanets Dr Lagrange has directly observed using Earth-based telescopes are giants, many times the mass of Jupiter. But the JWST has the potential to spot exoplanets just a tenth of Jupiter's mass. Scientists could use these observations to help uncover the mysteries of how our own solar system formed. However, Dr Lagrange says they cannot yet directly observe 'Earth-like planets in the habitable zone'. That means the hunt for life beyond our solar system will still need to wait for even more powerful telescopes such as NASA's proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory. Scientists study the atmosphere of distant exoplanets using enormous space satellites like Hubble Distant stars and their orbiting planets often have conditions unlike anything we see in our atmosphere. To understand these new world's, and what they are made of, scientists need to be able to detect what their atmospheres consist of. They often do this by using a telescope similar to Nasa's Hubble Telescope. These enormous satellites scan the sky and lock on to exoplanets that Nasa think may be of interest. Here, the sensors on board perform different forms of analysis. One of the most important and useful is called absorption spectroscopy. This form of analysis measures the light that is coming out of a planet's atmosphere. Every gas absorbs a slightly different wavelength of light, and when this happens a black line appears on a complete spectrum. These lines correspond to a very specific molecule, which indicates it's presence on the planet. They are often called Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist that first discovered them in 1814. By combining all the different wavelengths of lights, scientists can determine all the chemicals that make up the atmosphere of a planet. The key is that what is missing, provides the clues to find out what is present. It is vitally important that this is done by space telescopes, as the atmosphere of Earth would then interfere. Absorption from chemicals in our atmosphere would skew the sample, which is why it is important to study the light before it has had chance to reach Earth. This is often used to look for helium, sodium and even oxygen in alien atmospheres.
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovers new planet TWA 7b orbiting a young star 111 light-years away
The James Webb Space Telescope has officially discovered its first new planet after three years of supporting astronomers in studying known exoplanets. This young world is a groundbreaking discovery designated TWA 7b because it is the lowest-mass planet ever directly imaged outside the solar system. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now With an estimated mass of just 0.3 times that of Jupiter (or about 100 times that of Earth), TWA 7b is ten times lighter than any previously directly imaged exoplanet. James Webb Space Telescope captures young exoplanet TWA 7b The young exoplanet discovered by JWST: TWA 7b orbits a young, low-mass star called CE Antliae (also known as TWA 7), located approximately 111 light-years from Earth in the constellation Antlia. This star, discovered in 1999, is part of the TW Hydrae Association, a group of stars known for their youth. CE Antliae is thought to be just 6.4 million years old—a cosmic infant compared to our 4.6-billion-year-old Sun. Its youthful nature, along with its nearly pole-on orientation as seen from Earth, made it an ideal candidate for imaging with JWST. How James Webb Space Telescope spotted a new planet hiding in a dusty ring The key to discovering TWA 7b lies in infrared imaging. Young, low-mass planets like TWA 7b emit thermal radiation in the infrared spectrum, which is JWST's specialty. The telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), along with its coronagraph, played a pivotal role. A coronagraph allows astronomers to block out the overwhelming light of a star, making it possible to detect faint nearby objects such as exoplanets. Using high-contrast imaging techniques, the JWST team was able to detect a faint infrared source embedded in the debris disc around TWA 7. This faint source turned out to be located in a gap between rings of dust—an area theorised to be carved out by a planet's gravitational influence. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Simulations confirmed that the presence of a Saturn-mass planet in that exact location could explain the observed structure. James Webb Space Telescope finds TWA 7b in a dust gap The disc around TWA 7 is not a random cloud of debris—it contains three distinct rings, with gaps in between. One of these gaps has a narrow ring flanked by two dust-free regions, a signature commonly associated with the gravitational forces of an orbiting planet. The infrared glow detected by JWST corresponds precisely to this ring gap, and its brightness, temperature (around 320 Kelvin or 47°C), and orbital distance (about 50 astronomical units from the star) all match what scientists expected of a planet in this region. What makes this discovery so significant The discovery of TWA 7b marks a milestone in exoplanet science for several reasons: First planet discovered by JWST using direct imaging Lowest-mass exoplanet ever directly imaged Potential first observational evidence of a planet influencing a debris disc New insights into planet formation in very young systems Astronomers believe that the structures seen in debris discs around young stars are blueprints for planetary formation. These rings and gaps represent zones where material is either accumulating to form planets or being cleared out by their gravitational pull. TWA 7b may be the first direct proof of this process in action. How James Webb Space Telescope new imaging techniques revealed the hidden planet TWA 7b To detect TWA 7b, researchers used advanced image subtraction methods. Removing residual starlight, they could separate the planet from Solar System bodies and background galaxies. This finding illustrates the way that new observing methods and instruments on JWST—such as the coronagraph and MIRI—are opening up our ability to discover hitherto inaccessible exoplanets. Due to JWST's mid-infrared sensitivity, it's now able to detect planets as massive and as cold as Saturn, a tremendous improvement in direct imaging. Future of exoplanet discovery with James Webb Space Telescope With its ability to suppress starlight and pick up the faint heat signatures of small, cold planets, JWST is opening a new frontier in exoplanet discovery. Astronomers are now optimistic that even lighter planets—possibly Neptune-mass or even super-Earths—could soon be within reach. Future follow-up observations will aim to: Confirm the planetary nature of TWA 7b Measure its exact mass, atmosphere, and temperature Study the dynamic interactions between the planet and its debris disc Look for Trojan dust clouds—collections of material that may share the planet's orbit. Also Read |
