Current:Home > FinanceAstronomers detect rare, huge 'super-Jupiter' planet with James Webb telescope -SecureNest Finance
Astronomers detect rare, huge 'super-Jupiter' planet with James Webb telescope
View
Date:2025-04-18 00:31:15
A team of astronomers used the powerful James Webb Space Telescope to capture new images of a "super-Jupiter" planet – the closest planet of its huge size that scientists have found.
The planet is a gas giant, a rare type of planet found orbiting only a tiny percentage of stars, which gives scientists an exciting opportunity to learn more about it, said Elisabeth Matthews, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, who led the study published in Springer Nature on Wednesday.
"It's kind of unlike all the other planets that we've been able to study previously," she said.
The planet shares some qualities with Earth – its temperature is similar, and the star it orbits is about 80% of the mass of our sun.
But "almost all of the planet is made of gas," meaning its atmosphere is very different from Earth's, Matthews said. It's also much larger – about six times the size of Jupiter, she said.
Matthews' team first got the idea for the project around 2018, but their breakthrough didn't come until 2021 with the launch of the James Webb telescope, the largest and most powerful ever built.
After decades of development, the telescope was launched that December from French Guiana. It has the ability to peer back in time using gravitational lensing, according to NASA.
Astronomers had picked up on the planet's presence by observing wobbling in the star it orbits, an effect of the planet's gravitational pull. Using the James Webb telescope, Matthews' team was able to observe the planet.
More:US startup uses AI to prevent space junk collisions
James Webb telescope helps astronomers find dimmer, cooler stars
The planet circles Epsilon Indi A, a 3.5-billion-year-old "orange dwarf" star that is slightly cooler than the sun. Astronomers usually observe young, hot stars because their brightness makes them easier to see. This star, on the other hand, is "so much colder than all the planets that we've been able to image in the past," Matthews said.
The planet is also even bigger than they had believed, she said.
"I don't think we expected for there to be stuff out there that was so much bigger than Jupiter," she said.
Some scientists believe the temperature of an orange dwarf like Epsilon Indi A could create the ideal environment on its orbiting planets for life to form, NASA says. But Matthews said the planet wouldn't be a good candidate.
"There isn't a surface or any liquid oceans, which makes it pretty hard to imagine life," she said.
Still, Matthews said, it's "certainly possible" that a small, rocky planet like Earth could be a part of the same system; researchers just haven't been able to see it yet.
Although the team was able to collect only a couple of images, Matthews said, its proximity offers exciting opportunities for future study.
"It's so nearby, it's actually going to be really accessible for future instruments," she said. "We'll be able to actually learn about its atmosphere."
Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her on email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.
veryGood! (37)
Related
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Bachelor Fans Will Want to Steal Jason Tartick and Kaitlyn Bristowe's Date Night Ideas for a Sec
- The Voice Announces 2 New Coaches for Season 25 in Surprise Twist
- To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the Sea
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Titanic Sub Search: Details About Missing Hamish Harding’s Past Exploration Experience Revealed
- Looking to Reduce Emissions, Apparel Makers Turn to Their Factories in the Developing World
- Why Kelly Clarkson Is “Hesitant” to Date After Brandon Blackstock Divorce
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- California’s Climate Reputation Tarnished by Inaction and Oil Money
Ranking
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Billy Baldwin says Gilgo Beach murders suspect was his high school classmate: Mind-boggling
- Missing Titanic Submersible Passes Oxygen Deadline Amid Massive Search
- Iowa's 6-week abortion ban signed into law, but faces legal challenges
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Kim Kardashian Makes Rare Comments on Paris Robbery Nearly 7 Years Later
- New York and New England Need More Clean Energy. Is Hydropower From Canada the Best Way to Get it?
- Amazon Shoppers Love This Very Cute & Comfortable Ruffled Top for the Summer
Recommendation
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
Without ‘Transformative Adaptation’ Climate Change May Threaten the Survival of Millions of Small Scale Farmers
Is the economy headed for recession or a soft landing?
DeSantis' campaign is brutally honest about trailing Trump in presidential race, donors say
See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
Meet the judge deciding the $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News
The Home Depot says it is spending $1 billion to raise its starting wage to $15
'New York Times' stories on trans youth slammed by writers — including some of its own