New planet revealed around a young star after a decade in hiding
Astronomers have discovered a cold gas giant orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris after analyzing data from the Very Large Telescope and the Webb Space Telescope. The planet is the dimmest ever directly imaged and was hidden for over a decade by the glare of its host star.
Why it matters
This discovery demonstrates the power of multi-telescope collaboration and advanced imaging techniques in identifying elusive exoplanets.
Astronomers have discovered a faint, elusive planet orbiting a young star after more than a decade of cosmic hide-and-seek. In an unusual twist, two groups working independently detected the cold gas giant a few days apart late last year using different telescopes. It’s the dimmest planet ever directly imaged from earth, scientists said.
A Scottish and German-led team spied the new planet around the star Beta Pictoris using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, then dug through archives to confirm its orbit. The planet had remained hidden in the data all this time, overshadowed by its considerably brighter star and two companion planets.
Beta Pictoris is located in the easel-shaped southern constellation Pictor and 63 light-years from earth.
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