Exoplanet Recently Discovered by James Webb Space Telescope originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
TWA 7 + TWA 7b (MIRI + VLT Image)NASA, ESA, CSA, Anne-Marie Lagrange (CNRS, UGA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)On Wednesday, June 25th, it was announced in Nature that the James Webb Space Telescope- the most powerful telescope according to NASA- recently detected an infrared light source that they believe is a previously unknown exoplanet. These observations were taken as part of the Webb observing program 3662. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).The observed object, which has been named TWA 7b, orbits a red dwarf star about 34 light years away known as TWA 7 or CE Antilae. Its mass is about 100 times the size of Earth, similar to Saturn. According to an article on the James Webb Discoverywebsite, "The planet’s surface temperature, estimated at 120°F (47°C), makes it one of the coldest exoplanets ever directly imaged, a testament to JWST’s sensitivity to faint infrared emissions." Such temperatures suggest the exoplanet could potentially sustain life.The detection took place within one of the three debris rings using MIRI's coronagraph. According to astronomers, if confirmed, this would be the first time the James Webb Telescope caught a direct image that resulted in the discovery of a planet. It is also the lowest-mass exoplanet outside the solar system to be detected using direct imaging.
Anne-Marie Lagrange, a researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and Université Grenoble Alpes in France and lead author of the paper, said in an articleon NASA's website,"Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass."“This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the solar system, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own,” said co-author Mathilde Malin of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore in the same article.The discovery of TWA 7b provides researchers with an opportunity to examine planet formation further. According to the same article by NASA, "Ongoing and future observations will aim to better constrain the properties of the candidate, verify its planetary status, and deepen our understanding of planet formation and disk evolution in young systems."To learn more about Webb, visit https://science.nasa.gov/webb
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
