Webb Finds Evidence for Planet Around Closest Solar Twin
16 days ago
- #exoplanet
- #Alpha Centauri
- #James Webb Space Telescope
- Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope found strong evidence of a gas giant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A.
- Alpha Centauri is the closest stellar system to Earth, located just 4 light-years away.
- The potential planet is about the mass of Saturn and orbits in an elliptical path between 1 to 2 times the Earth-Sun distance.
- If confirmed, this would be the closest exoplanet to Earth orbiting in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, though it is a gas giant and not suitable for life as we know it.
- Webb's observations involved meticulous planning, custom observing sequences, and extensive computer modeling to distinguish the planet from background or foreground objects.
- Additional observations in 2025 did not detect the planet again, leading researchers to simulate millions of orbits to understand its disappearance.
- The discovery challenges current understanding of planet formation and survival in binary star systems.
- Future observations by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could provide complementary data to Webb’s findings.