Found using the MIRI instrument on NASA’s Webb telescope, which was managed by JPL through launch, the possible planet would be easier to study than more far-flung worlds.
Found using the MIRI instrument on NASA’s Webb telescope, which was managed by JPL through launch, the possible planet would be easier to study than more far-flung worlds.
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just 4 light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a compelling target in the search for worlds beyond our solar system.
Visible only from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, it’s made up of the binary Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, both Sun-like stars, and the faint red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Alpha Centauri A is the third brightest star in the night sky. While there are three confirmed planets orbiting Proxima Centauri, the presence of other worlds surrounding Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B has proved challenging to confirm.
Now, Webb’s observations from its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are providing the strongest evidence to date of a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A. The results have been accepted in a series of two papers in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Read More: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Image: This artist’s concept depicts a gas giant planet that NASA’s Webb telescope found strong evidence for around Alpha Centauri A (upper left). The Alpha Centauri system is home to three stars including Alpha Centauri B (upper right). Our Sun is shown as a small dot of light between those two stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Robert L. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
