The fleet of space and ground-based telescopes, combined with the development of new methods of observing space and locating planets in other star systems, has led to the discovery of more than five thousand exoplanets while the existence of another five thousand or so has been indicated and awaits confirmation of their discovery.
Observations with the space telescope James Webb led scientists to the discovery of a giant exoplanet, a “super Jupiter” orbiting a nearby star that is about 3.5 billion years old. The discovery was published in the magazine “Nature”.
The planet, named Epsilon Indi Ab, is impressively bright and is the coldest exoplanet of any planet imaged outside our solar system. It is six times more massive than Jupiter and is about 12 light-years from Earth. Data show that it is likely the only giant planet in its system, and its temperature is 2 degrees Celsius, according to observations.
“This discovery is exciting because the planet is quite similar to Jupiter. It is slightly hotter and more massive, but it is more similar to Jupiter than any other planet imaged so far,” notes the study’s lead author Elizabeth Matthews of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
The illustration
Previous studies had spotted the planet, but its existence was only confirmed by the James Webb Telescope. Only a few dozen exoplanets have been directly imaged by space and ground-based telescopes in the past. Previously imaged exoplanets tend to be younger and hotter. As planets cool and contract over their lifetimes, they become significantly fainter and therefore harder to see.
Epsilon Indi Ab is the twelfth closest exoplanet to Earth known to date and the closest with a mass greater than Jupiter.
Naftemporiki.gr with information from APE-MPE