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Oldest and coldest: JWST claims a first for exoplanet imaging

JWST has opened a window on exoplanet imaging by observing the planet ε Indi Ab directly. The planet’s existence had been inferred, but its age and temperature made the discovery difficult to confirm — until now.
  1. Isabel Rebollido Vázquez

    1. Isabel Rebollido Vázquez is in the European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Villanueva de la Cañada 28692, Madrid, Spain.

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A lot has changed in exoplanet research in the 30 years since the first exoplanets were detected1. Thousands of planets have now been catalogued, sporting a huge range of characteristics that show that the Solar System is one of many similar systems — but also that it’s undoubtedly unique. However, most of the detections have been indirect: the planets have been inferred through their effect on the brightness or the position of their host star, and direct imaging, particularly of mature planets, remains difficult. This implies that there is still much to be learnt about the known exoplanets, including crucial information about their habitability, such as the composition of their atmospheres. Writing in Nature, Matthews et al.2 report direct observations of a planet that is potentially much older than Earth using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

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Nature 633, 776-777 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02804-9

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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