IIT Kanpur Professor And Astronomers Discover Nearby 'Super-Jupiter' Through Direct Imaging (T. Müller (MPIA/HdA))

In a ground-breaking discovery with an international team of astronomers, Dr. Prashant Pathak, assistant professor at the Dept. of Space, Planetary & Astronomical Sciences & Engineering (SPASE), IIT Kanpur discovered a giant planet orbiting a nearby star similar to the Sun. The details of the discovery and the research are published in the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal, Nature.

The planet, Epsilon Indi Ab, or Eps Ind Ab for short, is classified as a ‘super-Jupiter’ due to its mass, which exceeds that of Jupiter by at least six times, which is significantly larger than any planet in the solar system. Eps Ind Ab is the first-ever mature exoplanet that is discovered by using direct imaging techniques.

An international team of astronomers directly imaged the exoplanet orbiting the K5V-type star Epsilon Indi A, also known as HD 209100 or HIP 108870, using James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWSTs) Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). The direct imaging of a nearby mature exoplanet marks a significant milestone in space exploration and the capability of the JWST. In the indirect method, a planet’s existence is measured through the gravitational influence or the dimming of starlight as it passes through its host star.

The newly discovered planet is located 12 light-years away from us. The planet is reportedly cold, with a temperature of about -1°C (30°F). Its orbit is large circling at a distance 28 times greater than the distance between our Earth and the Sun.

Read also: Is There Life On Venus? Signs Of Phosphine Gas On Planet Sparks Debate

Elisabeth Matthews, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, and the lead author of the research article said that the team was excited realizing the image of the new planet as the team was not expecting the planet to be found at that position. Earlier studies failed to correctly estimate the mass and orbital separation, she said.

Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur said that the discovery is a major milestone in exoplanet research and sets the stage for further discoveries that will uncover the mysteries of planetary systems.

Dr. Prashant Pathak, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Space, Planetary & Astronomical Sciences & Engineering (SPASE), IIT Kanpur, and a key member of the research team said that this discovery is exciting as it provides more opportunities to learn about the planets. The planet’s atmosphere is unusual with high metal content and a different carbon-to-oxygen ratio than our system. We hope to gain a deeper understanding of the planetary formation and composition of the atmosphere and potential life beyond our solar system, he added.

Earlier attempts to study the giant planet were unsuccessful due to the planet’s orbital period being around 200 years and short-term observations were not sufficient to determine the planet’s properties. The team went through a direct imaging approach.

The team used a JWSTs MIRI camera equipped with a coronagraph, to block the starlight, effectively creating an artificial eclipse. This technique enables detecting faint signals around bright objects, similar to observing solar corona during an eclipse. Eps Ind A proximity to Earth (only 12 light-years) proved advantageous. Nearby planetary systems can be resolved using large telescopes such as JWST’s 6.5 m aperture, enhancing the angular separation between the star and planet. MIRI’s ability to observe in the thermal infrared, where cold objects like planets emit strong radiation, made it the ideal instrument for this ground-breaking observation.

Read also: Scientists Keep Eyes On Asteroid Larger Than Eiffel Tower As It Swerves Past Earth.

The team of researchers from renowned institutions around the world included

• Elisabeth Matthews, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany;
• Aarynn Carter, Space Telescope Science Institute, USA;
• Prashant Pathak, Department of SPASE, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India;
• Caroline Morley, Department of Astronomy, USA;
• Mark Phillips, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK;
• Sai Krishanth Pulikesi Mannan, Steward Observatory and Department of Astronomy, USA;
• Fabo Feng, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, People’s Republic Of China;
• Markus Bonse, ETH Zurich, Institute for Particle Physics & Astrophysics, Switzerland / Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany;
• Leindert Boogaard, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany;
• Jennifer Burt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA;
• Ian Crossfield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, USA;
• Ewan Douglas, Steward Observatory and Department of Astronomy, USA;
• Thomas Henning, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany;
• Justin Hom, Steward Observatory and Department of Astronomy, USA;
• Markus Kasper, European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany;
• Chia-Lin Ko, Steward Observatory and Department of Astronomy, USA;
• Anne-Marie Lagrange, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, France / Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS-INSU, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), France;
• Dominique Petit dit de la Roche, Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Switzerland;
• Florian Philipot, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, France.