Webb telescope discovers super-Jupiter just 12 light-years away

The James Webb Space Telescope has made another important discovery. Just 12 light-years away from Earth, it has discovered a giant planet with a mass over six times greater than Jupiter, the most giant planet in the Solar System.

The James Webb Space Telescope has found a planet with an unimaginable mass, exceeding Jupiter's mass by six times, at a distance of just 12 light-years from Earth. This extraordinary planet is surprising with its size, brightness, and low temperature.

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, one of the leading research centers in astronomy, reported this remarkable discovery. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), one of the most advanced observational tools available, enabled the discovery of this extraordinary planet, which orbits a nearby star just 12 light-years away from us. This orange dwarf has a temperature slightly lower than our Sun's.

Previous analyses and observations suggested that a giant planet might be orbiting this star, but until now, there was no direct observational evidence. The JWST provided such evidence by sending images of this planet. Based on these images, astronomers classified it as a super Jupiter.

The planet Epsilon Indi A is truly gigantic. Its mass exceeds Jupiter's sixfold, making it one of the largest objects outside of our Solar System. Furthermore, it has surprised scientists in many other ways. Despite being exceptionally bright, it is quite cold—its surface temperature is approximately 36°F.

Epsilon Indi A orbits its parent star at a distance about 15 times greater than Earth's orbit around the Sun. One complete orbit of this planet around its star takes several decades.

Observations indicate that Epsilon Indi A is the only giant planet in its star's system. The results of these observations were published in the prestigious journal Nature.