Images of nearest ‘super-Jupiter’ open a new window to exoplanet research | Science & Technology

“We were excited when we realised we had imaged this new planet,” said Elisabeth Matthews, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. She is the main author of the underlying research article published in the journal Nature. “To our surprise, the bright spot that appeared in our MIRI images did not match the position we were expecting for the planet,” Matthews points out. “Previous studies had correctly identified a planet in this system but underestimated this super-Jupiter gas giant’s mass and orbital separation.” With the help of JWST, the team was able to set the record straight.

This detection is quite unusual in several aspects. It shows the first exoplanet imaged with JWST that had not already been imaged from the ground and is much colder than the gas planets JWST has studied so far. An ‘image’ means that the planet appears as a bright dot on the images and thus represents direct evidence. The transit and radial velocity methods are indirect evidence, as the planet only reveals itself through its mediated effect.

JWST observations update previous measurements

The planet revolves around the main component of the nearby triple star system Epsilon Indi, or Eps Ind for short. Astronomical labelling conventions assign the label Eps Ind A to that primary star, a red dwarf star a little smaller and cooler than the…