– The James Webb Space Telescope spotted a massive exoplanet orbiting the star Epsilon Indi A, located 12 light-years from Earth.
– Dubbed a “super Jupiter”, the planet is about the same size as Jupiter but has six times the mass. It has a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
– Remarkably, it takes the planet over 100 years, possibly up to 250 years, to complete one full orbit around its star – significantly longer than any planet in our solar system.
– This makes it about 15 times farther from its host star than Earth is from the Sun. Such a massive planet on such a wide orbit had not been directly imaged or confirmed until now.
– The discovery was made through direct imaging using Webb’s advanced infrared instruments and exoplanet coronagraph, which blocks out starlight to reveal faint planetary signals.
– Though unlikely to host life, the planet provides insight into how massive gas giants evolve over billions of years. It adds to the growing number of exoplanets detected through direct observation by space telescopes.
Source: AP
