James Webb Space Telescope Captures Image of Exoplanet

By Isabelle Parker

NASA's discovery of exoplanet HIP 65426 b could help scientists find habitable planets. While the planet was first found in 2017, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has only now been able to clearly capture an image of the celestial body. Its mass is 9 times that of Jupiter's, and it takes 630.7 years to complete one orbit around its star, as it is 14 billion kilometres away from it. It is only 15- 20 million years old, and is 385 light years away from Earth, in the Centaurus constellation. Its cloud tops get up to 1,400° C, and its diameter is 92% of Jupiter's. These facts make it unlike any planet in our Solar System. Exoplanets are often hard to spot, as the light from the star they orbit hides them. The JWST was able to capture HIP 65426 b with the help of several coronagraphs, instruments which help to block the light from stars. The fact that the Telescope was able to detect an object as small as this planet is very promising for future discoveries.