JWST tagged posts

New Planet in Kepler-51 System discovered using James Webb Space Telescope, JWST

illustration of star with three planets
A fourth planet has been discovered in the Kepler-51 system using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The three previously known planets in the system, illustrated here,  are unusual ultra-low density “super-puff” planets. Credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player and F. Summers (STScI). All Rights Reserved.

The unusual system of three ‘super puff’ planets has at least one more planet, revealed by its gravitational tug on other planets. An unusual planetary system with three known ultra-low density “super-puff” planets has at least one more planet, according to new research led by researchers from Penn State and Osaka University...

Read More

Astronomers find Webb Data Conflict with Reionization Models

Astronomers Find JWST Data Conflicts with Reionization Models
Simulation of galaxies ionizing hydrogen gas (bright areas) during the epoch of Reionization. Credit: M. Alvarez, R. Kaehler, and T. Abel / European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Reionization is a critical period when the first stars and galaxies changed the physical structure of their surroundings, and eventually the entire universe. Established theories state that this epoch ended around 1 billion years after the Big Bang. However, if calculating this milestone using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), reionization would have ended at least 350 million years earlier than expected. That’s according to a new paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

Throughout its history, the universe has undergone several major changes...

Read More

AI Shines a New Light on Exoplanets

Comparison of the solution from the scattering PINN with a higher accuracy PINN with fixed parameters. Credit: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae1872

Researchers from LMU, the ORIGINS Excellence Cluster, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), and the ORIGINS Data Science Lab (ODSL) have made an important breakthrough in the analysis of exoplanet atmospheres.

Using physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), they have managed to model the complex light scattering in the atmospheres of exoplanets with greater precision than has previously been possible.

This method opens up new opportunities for the analysis of exoplanet atmospheres, especially with regard to the influence of clouds, and could significantly improv...

Read More

Scorching Storms on Distant Worlds Revealed

brown dwarf
Artist’s impression of the nearest brown dwarf to Earth. Credit – ESO/I. Crossfield/N. Risinger.

Astronomers have created the most detailed weather report so far for two distant worlds beyond our own solar system. Astronomers have created the most detailed weather report so far for two distant worlds beyond our own solar system.

The international study — the first of its kind — reveals the extreme atmospheric conditions on the celestial objects, which are swathed in swirling clouds of hot sand amid temperatures of 950C.

Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers set out to capture the weather on a pair of brown dwarfs — cosmic bodies that are bigger than planets but smaller than stars.

These brown dwarfs, named collectively as WISE 1049AB, are the bri...

Read More