By weight, it is six times larger than Jupiter.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken a direct image of the new planet, which turned out to be a cold gas giant in the Epsilon Indian system, located just 12 light-years from Earth.
This super-Jupiter is located at a distance 20-40 times greater than the distance between the Earth and the Sun. The star Epsilon Indian A, around which the planet orbits, is an orange dwarf, smaller and colder than the Sun. Because of this, the temperature on the surface of the planet, which has been named Epsilon Indian Ab, is approximately 0°C, which is significantly colder than the red-hot «hot Jupiters» that are often encountered in exoplanet research.
The observations were made possible by the unique capabilities of JWST. Since the system is located only 12 light-years away, it became an ideal object for direct observation. However, the brightness of the star could have prevented the detection of the planet. To solve this problem, the scientists used the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) with a coronagraph — an instrument that creates an artificial dimming of the star, allowing us to see what would otherwise be hidden by its radiance.
Elisabeth Matthews, lead author of the study from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), said:
«We were thrilled when we realized that we had captured an image of a new planet. To our surprise, the bright spot that appeared in the MIRI images did not correspond to the expected position of the planet. Previous studies had correctly identified a planet in this system, but underestimated the mass of this gas giant and its orbital distance by».
The scientists carefully checked whether the detected signal actually belongs to a planet and not to a more distant background object. Leindert Boogaard, a co-author of the study, confirmed that the probability that the signal comes from an extragalactic source is very low.
Scientists currently assume that carbon molecules such as methane and carbon dioxide, or clouds, are present in the planet’s atmosphere. Further observations with JWST will provide more detailed information about the planet’s climate and chemical composition.
Thomas Henning, a co-author of the study, expressed hope for a spectral analysis of the planet to obtain more information about its atmosphere. Matthews added that in the future, they plan to observe other nearby planetary systems to search for cold gas giants that may have escaped detection earlier.
A scientific article discussing the results of the study, published in the journal Nature.
Source: Iflscience
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: