Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe Alpha Centauri A, the closest Sun-like star to Earth. The star was observed three times: in August 2024, February 2025, and April 2025. In the first observation they detected a faint point of light (S1) near the star. However, it was uncertain whether S1 was a real object or an imaging artifact.
S1 wasn’t seen in later observations, but the authors suggest that if it was the same object as the one spotted in 2019 (C1) by another telescope (VLT/NEAR), it could’ve moved due to its orbital motion and thereby escaped detection. Their calculations show that such a planet might be on a highly eccentric orbit.
The planet candidate has an estimated equilibrium temperature of 225 K, a radius of ~1 RJup and a mass between 90–150 Earth masses, consistent with RV limits.
They also found no signs of warm dust near the star, meaning Alpha Centauri A has far less dusty debris than our own solar system.
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Is this the same world as C1 that may have been detected in February 2021 by the VLT?
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Plain language summary:
Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe Alpha Centauri A, the closest Sun-like star to Earth. The star was observed three times: in August 2024, February 2025, and April 2025. In the first observation they detected a faint point of light (S1) near the star. However, it was uncertain whether S1 was a real object or an imaging artifact.
S1 wasn’t seen in later observations, but the authors suggest that if it was the same object as the one spotted in 2019 (C1) by another telescope (VLT/NEAR), it could’ve moved due to its orbital motion and thereby escaped detection. Their calculations show that such a planet might be on a highly eccentric orbit.
The planet candidate has an estimated equilibrium temperature of 225 K, a radius of ~1 RJup and a mass between 90–150 Earth masses, consistent with RV limits.
They also found no signs of warm dust near the star, meaning Alpha Centauri A has far less dusty debris than our own solar system.
Is this the same world as C1 that may have been detected in February 2021 by the VLT?