Operational since this spring, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first direct image of a planet outside our solar system, according to a post published Thursday by NASA. It “gives a glimpse of the future possibilities of studying distant worlds”.
The exoplanet, a gas giant named HIP 65426 b, is six to twelve times the mass of Jupiter, an estimate the telescope should help refine. It is about 15 to 20 million years old. It is therefore young on the scale of the planets, especially if we compare it to the Earth and its some 4.5 billion years, recalled NASA.
“This is a turning point, not only for Webb, but for astronomy in general,” enthused Sasha Hinkley, professor of astrophysics at the University of Exeter, cited by the US space agency on a dedicated blog.
An image that shows the way forward
This is not the first time that a direct image of an exoplanet has been captured. The famous Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990 and still in operation, had already done this. But this image “shows the way forward for Webb’s exploration of exoplanets,” the agency said.
The fact that the James Webb telescope has managed to draw the portrait “suggests the future possibilities of studying distant worlds”, she added.
The image was published in four copies, each time with a different light filter. The significant distance between this exoplanet and its star made it easier to differentiate them.
>> Review our special page on the first discoveries of James Webb: Impressive images from the James Webb Space Telescope unveiled by NASA
From discovery to discovery
An engineering gem worth ten billion dollars, the James Webb Telescope conducts its observations 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
At the end of August, he had detected for the first time the presence of CO2 in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, a discovery which had excited scientists for the continuation of his observations.
>> Review the 7:30 p.m. topic on the first discoveries of James Webb:
>> Lire: CO2 detected around an exoplanet by the Webb telescope
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