There’s nothing terribly special about the exoplanet known as HIP 65426 b. It’s a gas giant nine times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting its host star 385 light years from Earth. Just one of at least 5,000 exoplanets astronomers have detected, it could easily go overlooked. But, as NASA announced yesterday, HIP 65426 b is all at once very big news—becoming the first exoplanet imaged directly by the new James Webb Space Telescope. Exoplanets are typically detected only inferentially—either by the slight dimming of light that occurs as they orbit in front of their parent star, or by the slight wobble they cause in the star as their gravity tugs on it.

Topics:  there&rsquo   earth   james webb space   telescope   exoplanets   nircam   sasha hinkley   university   exeter   u.k   the   hip   nasa    webb   webb   photograph   star   light   astronomers   detected   slight   feat   orbiting   blocks   astronomy   

 

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