James Webb Just Took Its First Direct Image of an Exoplanet

M. Weiss/Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysicsfirst direct image of a planet

beyond our Solar System, in an impressive demonstration of the space observatory's groundbreaking capabilities that could uncover new details about worlds orbiting distant stars. The new image shows the exoplanet HIP 65426 b, an extremely young gas giant that's roughly six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter and located 363 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.by scientists using the SPHERE instrument attached to the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile back in 2017, Webb's new observations allow us to see it without any interfering glow emanating from the Earth's atmosphere.

"This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally," said Sasha Hinkley, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter who led the observations, in aTalk about out of this world! This is Webb’s first direct image of a planet outside of our solar system, and it hints at Webb’s future possibilities for studying distant worlds:

Great! Thanks!

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

NASA Turns James Webb Telescope's First Photos Into MusicThe James Webb Space Telescope team has translated some of the telescope’s first photos into music through a process called sonification.
Source: petapixel - 🏆 527. / 51 Read more »

Iconic James Webb Space Telescope images turned into musicThe data sonifications allow visually impaired space enthusiasts to experience the beauty of the universe. This music is filled with magic as though John Williams wrote it. Nice awesome pic
Source: SPACEdotcom - 🏆 92. / 67 Read more »

James Webb Space Telescope is spotting things that have scientists baffledNew James Webb observations are changing everything we thought we knew about the early universe and that's a good thing.
Source: BGR - 🏆 234. / 63 Read more »

NASA releases stunning new images of Phantom Galaxy from Hubble, James Webb telescopesNew images from the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have produced a stunning view of the Phantom Galaxy, a 'grand design' spiral galaxy located 32 million light-years away from Earth.
Source: FOXLA - 🏆 445. / 53 Read more »

Axiom Space, NASA agree to send 2nd all-private crew to space station in 2023The Ax-2 private spaceflight continues to take shape.
Source: SPACEdotcom - 🏆 92. / 67 Read more »

James Webb Just Took Its First Direct Image of an ExoplanetNASA's James Webb Space Telescope just took its first direct image of an exoplanet, a gas giant, lurking outside of the Solar System. Great! Thanks!
Source: futurism - 🏆 85. / 68 Read more »