Astronomers have discovered a faint planet orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris, a finding that comes after more than a decade of observation. Two independent teams detected the cold gas giant within days of each other late last year, utilizing different telescopes, making it the dimmest planet ever directly imaged from Earth.
A team led by Scottish and German scientists first identified the planet using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. They then reviewed archival data to confirm its orbit. The planet had remained obscured in the data for 11 years, overshadowed by its much brighter star and two other known companion planets.
Separately, a California-led team made the discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Both groups reported their findings in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The discovery was serendipitous, as each team was studying one of the star's already identified planets when they noticed a less massive, 100-times-fainter planet located further out.
The newly found planet is slightly larger than Jupiter and completes an orbit around its star in 91 years. Beta Pictoris is a star system estimated to be only 20 million years old, a fraction of the age of our sun. Scientists believe the planet likely resembles a much younger version of Jupiter. The star system is located in the southern constellation Pictor, 63 light-years from Earth.
Direct imaging has been used to detect fewer than 100 of the more than 6,000 confirmed exoplanets. Most exoplanets are found when they pass in front of their host star, causing a slight dimming of its light.