The James Webb Telescope takes a direct view of an exoplanet

In its official release this Thursday (1st), the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced James Webb Space Telescope captured his first direct image planet it’s outside of us solar system. HE HIP 65426 b It is a gaseous exoplanet, meaning it does not have a rocky surface and is uninhabitable.

According to the analyzed data, the exoplanet has 6 to 12 times more mass than the planet. Jupiter, and there are 15 to 20 million years since its emergence. The object was discovered in 2017 when the VLT telescope in Chile imaged the planet using near infrared.

Because Webb also captured longer infrared waves, the space telescope image was able to capture more detail than ground-based telescopes – on Earth, the difficulty is greater due to infrared radiation produced by the atmosphere.

“This is a transformative moment, not just for Webb, but for astronomy in general. It was really impressive that Webb’s coronagraphs were so good. [aparelho astronômico] worked to suppress the light from the host star,” said Sasha Hinkley, principal investigator and associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Exeter.

Direct image of an exoplanet

To capture the image, Webb used Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Intermediate Infrared Instrument (MIRI) infrared equipment, equipped with tiny masks that deflect light from surrounding stars – the masks are commonly known as coronagraphs.

Capturing direct images of exoplanets is still a challenge for astronomers, precisely because of the bright stars around it, but Webb was developed to overcome this problem. First direct images of exoplanets Hubble space telescope few years ago.

Scientists continue to analyze data from observations, which suggests excellent possibilities for studying distant planets in the future. The researchers are even preparing an article to be sent to several scientific journals.