Latest news with #TWA7
8 hours ago
- Science
NASA detects new planet with temperatures that suggest habitable conditions
The James Webb telescope has made another stunning discovery -- this time of a massive planet that could potentially sustain life, according to multiple space agencies. Astronomers have captured "compelling evidence" of a planet with a mass about 100 times the size of Earth orbiting a young, red dwarf star 34 light-years away called TWA 7 or CE Antilae. The planet, named TWA 7b, was detected by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever put into space, according to NASA. An initial analysis suggests the object could be a young, cold planet with a temperature near 120 degrees Fahrenheit, NASA said. Life can grow and reproduce starting at about 5 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 251 degrees Fahrenheit, scientists say. An international team of astronomers noticed a faint infrared source in a disk of debris surrounding the star, a distance about 50 times the space between Earth and the Sun, NASA said. They then used the telescope's mid-infrared instrument to suppress the bright glare of the host star to reveal the faint objects nearby, a method called high-contrast imaging that allows astronomers to directly detect planets that would otherwise be lost in the "overwhelming" light. If confirmed, this would be the first time the James Webb telescope captured a direct image that led to the discovery of a planet, rather than gravitational lensing -- a technique based on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, according to astronomers. The detection would match the expected position of a planet and explain key features of planets seen in the debris disk, according to the space agency. The source of the infrared light is located within three dust rings observed surrounding TWA 7. The debris disk surrounding TWA 7 is one of the youngest debris disks known to date, according to a paper published last week in Nature. "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," Anne-Marie Lagrange, a researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and Université Grenoble Alpes in France and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. The discovery is an "exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems," said co-author Mathilde Malin, an assistant research associate of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in a statement.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Webb telescope smashed a record with the planet it just discovered
Given that Saturn is nearly 100 times more massive than Earth, it seems like a joke to refer to an exoplanet of the same weight as "light." But that's what NASA and the European Space Agency, one of its partners on the James Webb Space Telescope, have called a world their observatory just discovered. Found 111 light-years away in space, the young planet is only about 6 million years old — a mere babe in cosmic terms. A wide ring of dust surrounds it in TWA 7, its star system in the Air Pump constellation. With the Webb telescope's powerful infrared camera, scientists spotted what was pushing around that debris: a faint object at least 10 times lighter than the previous planets discovered through direct imaging. The detection, which still must be confirmed through additional observations, represents the lightest planet ever seen with this technique outside the solar system, and it marks a major milestone in the search for exoplanets obscured by debris disks — those wide, dusty belts left behind after planets begin to form. Researchers say Webb's sharper vision and deeper sensitivity mean smaller, colder, and more distant planets are finally within reach. "This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the solar system, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own," said Mathilde Malin of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in a statement. SEE ALSO: Scientists just expanded the search for rocky alien worlds with air The James Webb Space Telescope captured a suspected exoplanet's thermal glow. Credit: NASA GSFC / CIL / Adriana Manrique Gutierrez illustration This exoplanet, dubbed TWA 7b, sits about 52 times farther from its star than Earth is from the sun. That places it right in the middle of a gap in the dust — the kind of thing scientists expect when a planet sculpts the debris around it with its gravity. Telescopes of the past weren't sensitive enough to spot such a small, faint planet so close to a bright star, but Webb captured its thermal glow with its mid-infrared instrument. Scientists then checked old existing images and data to rule out other possible explanations, like a background star, galaxy, or even a distant solar system object like a dwarf planet that happened to be in the same part of the sky. Nothing else fit. The discovery team published their findings in the journal Nature. Webb usually observes exoplanets through indirect methods, such as transmission spectroscopy, a technique for studying a planet's atmosphere by analyzing how starlight filters through it. What distinguishes this observation of TWA 7b is that the telescope captured light from the planet itself. The discovery comes on the heels of Webb's direct image of two previously known larger gas giants, YSES-1b and YSES-1c, about 300 light-years from Earth. The research revealed one of the exoplanets has sand-like clouds while the other is surrounded by moon-making material. Few distant worlds meet the criteria for direct imaging because planets are often millions of times fainter than the stars they circle. And if they are orbiting close, their own light usually gets washed out. But scientists want these images because they allow scientists to get much more information about an exoplanet's composition. The James Webb Space Telescope snapped a direct image of the TWA 7 star system, which includes a suspected exoplanet labeled CC #1, with its mid-infrared instrument. To the far left is an unrelated star system. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Anne-Marie Lagrange et al. / Molecules within a planet's atmosphere absorb certain colors of light, so when astronomers study a planet's spectrum, they can look for what's missing from the rainbow to determine which gases — like water, methane, and carbon dioxide — are present in the planet's air. "TWA 7b is suited for direct spectroscopic investigations, providing the opportunity to study the interior and the atmosphere of a non-irradiated sub-Jupiter-mass, cold exoplanet, and start comparative studies with our much older and cooler solar system giants," the authors wrote. Scientists overcame the challenge of the star, sometimes known as CE Antilae, by blocking its light with a special telescope instrument called a coronagraph. This device suppressed the red dwarf star's bright glare. The technique allows astronomers to see planets that would otherwise be swamped out. After subtracting excess starlight using advanced image processing, the faint infrared source from TWA 7b emerged. Computer models showed that a Saturn-size planet with a temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit would match what Webb saw. The simulations were also consistent with the way the dust ring is shaped, including the seemingly "empty" area around the candidate planet's location. Ongoing studies of the distant world will aim to better nail down its properties and confirm it is indeed a planet.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Science
- Hans India
James Webb Telescope captures first direct image of possible exoplanet TWA 7 b
For the first time, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a direct image of what scientists believe is an exoplanet—TWA 7 b—orbiting a young star located about 111 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, marks a significant milestone for the JWST, which until now had primarily confirmed or studied exoplanets using indirect methods. Unlike typical techniques that rely on the dimming of a star's light when a planet passes in front of it, this new detection used JWST's coronagraph to block out the overwhelming glare of the star TWA 7, revealing a faint source of infrared light in its surrounding debris disk. 'This is the first time Webb has directly imaged an exoplanet, and the result is incredibly exciting,' says Anne-Marie Lagrange, lead author and astrophysicist at the French National Center for Scientific Research. 'The planet's position aligns exactly with predictions based on previous observations of gaps in the debris disk.' The object, TWA 7 b, is estimated to have a mass similar to Saturn's and a temperature around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It resides within one of the disk's three dust rings, about 50 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun. The odds of it being a background galaxy are slim—only 0.34%—making it a strong planetary candidate. What makes this discovery even more remarkable is that TWA 7 b is roughly ten times lighter than any exoplanet previously imaged directly. It may also be the first planet observed actively shaping its star's surrounding debris disk—an insight that sheds light on how planetary systems like our own form and evolve. To confirm their findings, Lagrange's team ran simulations of the TWA 7 system. The models mirrored the Webb images almost exactly, reinforcing their confidence in the planetary nature of the object. 'This discovery is a testament to the power of JWST's instruments,' says co-author Mathilde Malin of the Space Telescope Science Institute. 'It opens the door to studying exoplanets that were previously out of reach, both in terms of their mass and distance from their host stars.'
Yahoo
6 days 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
6 days 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
