The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of NASA, has discovered the coldest new exoplanet named "super-Jupiter" or Epsilon Indi Ab, which is known to be the 12th closest exoplanet to Earth.
The temperature here is very cold and has a mass 6 times greater than that of Jupiter. This planet completes the full orbit of its host star in time range of between 100 to 250 years. This exceptionally long orbital period is compared to the other exoplanets.
The atmosphere of the planet is made up of hydrogen that is similar to that of Jupiter, earlier it was considered that smaller exoplanets were hot in temperature but this planet's discovery was shocking discovery revealing that a planet like this could also be colder.
The discovery of this planet was possible due to the usage of WST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). This exoplanet was harder to detect as the planet is smaller and colder, the finding of this discovery was published on July 24.
Elisabeth Matthews from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy commented on the discovery by Webb and appreciated its remarkable capabilities. The investigation of Eps Ind Ab will contribute to broadening the understanding of giant gas planets and their system.
She said in her statement "We were excited when we realized we had imaged this new planet," she further added, "To our surprise, the bright spot that appeared in our MIRI images did not match the position we were expecting for the planet."
According to the team, the planet's orbit is highly flattened, it orbits its red dwarf parent star at a distance similar to that between Neptune and the sun, resulting in a surface temperature of around 32°F (0°C).
The orbiting of this exoplanet around its stars signifies the first instance where the JWST has directly imaged an exoplanet that had not been observed from the ground.
Overall, Eps Ind Ab is also the coldest exoplanet examined by the JWST to date. The discovery of Eps Ind Ab offers important insights into the evolution of gas giant planets and their respective systems.
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