Evidence Found for Planet Around Closest Sun-Like Star
15 days ago
- #Alpha Centauri
- #James Webb Space Telescope
- #exoplanets
- Astronomers used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to find evidence of a gas giant planet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri A.
- Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to Earth at just 4 light-years away, consisting of three stars: Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri.
- The potential planet, if confirmed, would be the nearest habitable-zone planet orbiting a Sun-like star but is unlikely to support life due to being a gas giant.
- The observations were made using Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) with a coronagraphic mask to block star glare and detect faint planets.
- The candidate planet is about the mass of Saturn and orbits Alpha Centauri A in an elliptical path, sweeping through most of the habitable zone.
- Future observations with Webb and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may provide more details about the planet candidate.
- The discovery challenges current understanding of planet formation in chaotic binary star systems.