The first time ever NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was utilised to obtain the first ever direct photograph of a planet beyond our solar system. As a gas giant, this exoplanet is likely uninhabitable due to its lack of a stony surface.
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As viewed via four distinct filters, the picture demonstrates how Webb's strong infrared vision can readily catch extrasolar worlds, paving the way for future surveys that will disclose unprecedented detail about exoplanets.
“This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally,” said Sasha Hinkley, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter. NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency are all participating in the Webb project (Canadian Space Agency).
The mass of the exoplanet HIP 65426 b, shown in Webb's picture, is estimated to be between six and twelve times that of Jupiter, and new observations might bring that estimate closer to the true value. As planets go, it is rather young, being just 15–20 million years old, compared to Earth's 4.5–billion years.
In 2017, the planet was identified by astronomers utilising photos taken at short infrared wavelengths with the SPHERE instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Due to the inherent infrared glow of Earth's atmosphere, ground-based telescopes would be unable to discern additional features that Webb's vision at longer infrared wavelengths provides.
Scientists have been compiling a manuscript based on their findings from these observations for submission to academic publications for peer review. However, Webb's initial capture of an exoplanet hints to future opportunities for investigating other planets.
The distance between HIP 65426 b and its host star is almost 100 times greater than that between the Earth and the Sun, making it possible for Webb to readily distinguish the planet from the star in the picture.
Coronagraphs, microscopic masks that block out starlight, are built into Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), allowing Webb to capture direct photographs of certain exoplanets like this one. If everything goes according to plan, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set for flight later this decade, will showcase an even more cutting-edge coronagraph.
Because stars are so much brighter than planets, it is difficult to get direct photographs of exoplanets. Planet HIP 65426 b is almost 10,000 times fainter than its host star in the near-infrared, and just a few thousand times fainter in the mid-infrared.
The Hubble Space Telescope has already recorded direct photos of exoplanets, therefore HIP 65426 b is not the first such image. However, it does pave the door for future exoplanet exploration with the James Webb Space Telescope.
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