Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a giant exoplanet, named Beta Pictoris d, hidden within the well-studied Beta Pictoris planetary system in the Milky Way, as per information on the space agency's website. The discovery makes Beta Pictoris only the second known planetary system to contain at least three directly imaged planets and marks the first time a directly imaged exoplanet has been discovered primarily through moderate-resolution spectroscopy rather than conventional imaging.
The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, reveal that the planet was identified through the unique chemical signature of its atmosphere, a technique researchers say could reshape the search for planets around other stars.
