The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made history by capturing the first direct image of an exoplanet, TWA 7 b, located approximately 111 light-years away from Earth. The telescope’s advanced technology allowed researchers to block out the overwhelming glare of the host star and detect a faint source of infrared light in the debris disk surrounding it.
Astronomers used the JWST’s coronagraph to negate the starlight problem, which makes imaging a planet around a distant star extremely challenging. By processing the image with advanced techniques, they were able to reveal a faint infrared signal near the star TWA 7.
While there is a slight possibility that the detected signal might be a background galaxy, most evidence suggests that it’s an exoplanet with a mass similar to Saturn’s. Initial observations indicate that TWA 7 b is a young planet located within one of the debris disk’s three dust rings, about 50 times farther from its star than Earth is from our sun.
The discovery marks a significant milestone in the study of exoplanetary systems and their formation. The JWST’s ability to detect this exoplanet represents a new window into understanding planetary systems, including our own, co-author Mathilde Malin notes.
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/james-webb-space-telescope-reveals-its-first-direct-image-discovery-of-an-exoplanet-180986886