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Space
Space
Science
Stefanie Waldek

James Webb Space Telescope spots a potential new exoplanet just 4 light-years away from Earth

An image of a red and purple striped planet near two stars.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found strong evidence for a new exoplanet — one orbiting Alpha Centauri A, the nearest sun-like star to Earth. It's located just four light-years away from us, in the Alpha Centauri triple-star system.

Using JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the team imaged Alpha Centauri with a coronagraphic mask to remove the glare from the stars, allowing them to see much fainter objects like planets. That revealed a potential orbiting world some 10,000 times fainter than Alpha Centauri A.

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