In a recent feat of cosmic proportions, University of Texas astronomers have successfully captured an image of the exoplanet AF Lep b, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as reported by The University of Texas at Austin's news. This gas giant, a youngster at 23 million years old, is notably the smallest, lowest-mass planet directly observed with its mass measured outside our solar system to date.
The team, led by graduate students Kyle Franson and William Balmer, faced a unique challenge as they aimed to quickly capture the image of AF Lep b before it moved too close to its host star, making future observations significantly more difficult. "AF Lep b is right at the inner edge of being detectable," Franson stated, emphasizing the difficulties of separating the planet from its star due to their proximity, as seen from Earth, as per the University of Texas at Austin.
During the process, the JWST's coronagraph played a crucial role by blocking stellar light to reveal nearby objects like AF Lep b, which is nearing its host star in orbit. Due to the small angular separation, over 90% of the planet’s light was obstructed by the coronagraph, with expectations of increased difficulty as the planet moved closer. Brendan Bowler, an astronomer at UT and co-author of the study explained, "We really are pushing the instrumentation to its limits here."
"This is the first Director's Discretionary Time program led by graduate students," Bowler added, highlighting the significance of the achievement. In addition to the landmark image, the team observed surprising quantities of carbon monoxide in the planet's atmosphere, according to the University of Texas at Austin.
