Webb's First Direct Exoplanet Image

JWST captured the first direct image of an exoplanet candidate, TWA 7 b, by detecting its faint infrared light within a disk of debris around the star TWA 7.

Researchers used the telescope’s coronagraph to block out starlight and advanced image processing to reveal the dim planet signal.

TWA 7 b is estimated to have about Saturn’s mass, lies roughly 50 astronomical units from its star, and has a temperature near 120°F.

There is only a 0.34% chance the detection is a background galaxy, supporting its identification as an exoplanet shaping its host’s debris disk.

This marks the first directly imaged exoplanet discovery by JWST and the lightest planet ever directly imaged, demonstrating Webb’s enhanced observational capabilities.