Latest news with #TWA7
Yahoo
2 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
2 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
Time of India
2 days 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 |
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Arab Times
James Webb Space Telescope discovers new exoplanet through direct imaging
NEW YORK, June 26: Since its launch in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has not only provided extensive insights into the early universe but also gathered important data on known exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system. Now, for the first time, JWST has directly discovered a previously unknown exoplanet. The telescope captured an image of a young gas giant roughly the size of Saturn, orbiting a star smaller than the Sun about 110 light-years away in the constellation Antlia. (A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, approximately 5.9 trillion miles or 9.5 trillion kilometers.) Most of the approximately 5,900 exoplanets found since the 1990s have been detected using indirect techniques, such as the transit method, which measures the slight dimming of a star's light when a planet crosses in front of it. Less than 2% of exoplanets have been directly imaged, making this discovery notable. Although this planet is large compared to those in our solar system, it is actually the least massive exoplanet ever detected by direct imaging, being ten times lighter than the previous smallest one discovered. This highlights the remarkable sensitivity of Webb's instruments. This achievement was made possible by a French-built coronagraph—a device that blocks the intense light from a star—integrated into Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). "Webb opens a new window in terms of detecting planets of smaller mass and at greater distances from their stars, previously inaccessible to observation," said astronomer Anne-Marie Lagrange of France's CNRS and LIRA/Observatoire de Paris, who led the study published in Nature. "This is key to exploring the diversity of planetary systems and understanding their formation and evolution." The newly found planet orbits its star, known as TWA 7, at a distance about 52 times that between Earth and the Sun. To provide perspective, Neptune—the outermost planet in our solar system—circles the Sun at about 30 times Earth's distance. The transit method excels at finding planets close to their stars, but imaging is essential for detecting and analyzing those orbiting farther away. Planetary systems begin with the collapse of a large molecular cloud of gas and dust under gravity, forming a central star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk of leftover material that eventually forms planets. Both the star TWA 7 and its planet are very young—around 6 million years old—compared to the Sun's age of roughly 4.5 billion years. Viewing the system nearly face-on, researchers could identify the structure of the disk, which contains two wide concentric rings of rocky and dusty material, along with a narrow ring where the planet resides. The composition of the planet's atmosphere remains unknown, but future JWST observations may shed light on this. Scientists also aren't sure whether the young planet is still growing by accumulating nearby material. While this is the smallest exoplanet directly imaged to date, it is still far more massive than rocky planets like Earth, which are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. Despite JWST's powerful near- and mid-infrared capabilities, it currently cannot directly image Earth-sized exoplanets. 'Looking ahead, I hope that direct imaging of Earth-like planets and the search for signs of life will become achievable,' Lagrange concluded.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- Irish Independent
Nasa's James Webb Space telescope captures first image of exoplanet
©UK Independent Today at 00:30 Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured an image of an exoplanet for the first time since it began science operations in July of 2022. The previously unknown celestial body has been named 'TWA 7 b.' It is about 110 light-years away from Earth around the constellation Antlia and orbits the young nearby star TWA 7.
