Artist's impression of giant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri.
Astronomers are finding new information about a potential planet in Earth’s celestial neighborhood.
The planet orbits Alpha Centauri, a star in the solar system hovering just four light years from our own Sun. University of Arizona astronomers got their first look at the new world in 2011, and now their observations are being backed up by new findings from the James Webb Space Telescope. U of A researcher Kevin Wagner:
“We have two detections of a point of light on opposite sides of the star that are consistent with an orbit and are consistent with being the same brightness," said Wagner.
The planet appears to be a gas giant similar to Jupiter, and Wagner says it might also have a system of rings like Saturn.
“No indications of moons just yet, although if we look at Jupiter or Saturn in our own solar system, they’re both orbited by this rich system of moons so I would be surprised if it doesn’t have moons.”
Alpha Centauri is a companion star to Proxima Centauri, which scientists say has three confirmed exoplanets orbiting it.
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