Candidate Giant Planet Detected in Habitable Zone of α Cen A via JWST Observations
By
pinewurst
A baker's-dozen of insight crammed into one ring.
Summary
The article reports on coronagraphic observations of the star α Cen A using the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI instrument. A candidate giant planet, named S1, was detected in the habitable zone, with potential orbital and physical properties described. The study also sets unprecedented limits on exozodiacal dust emission, surpassing previous sensitivity levels. The findings are based on three observation epochs, with further analysis suggesting dynamically stable orbits for the candidate planet.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWe report on coronagraphic observations of the nearest solar-type star, α Cen A, using the MIRI instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope.
The lack of exozodiacal dust emission sets an unprecedented limit of a few times the brightness of our own zodiacal cloud.
If S1 is the counterpart of the object, C1, seen by the VLT/NEAR program in 2019, we find that there is a 52% chance that the S1+C1 candidate was missed in both follow-up JWST/MIRI observations due to orbital motion.
Based on the photometry and orbital properties, the planet candidate could have a temperature of 225 K, a radius of ≈1-1.1 RJup and a mass between 90-150 MEarth.
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