Giant planet around a dead star offers a peek into our solar system’s future

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting a dead white dwarf about 80 light-years away. The planet completes a 34-hour orbit at under 2 million miles from its star, with atmospheric methane detected and a temperature around 127°C, suggesting the planet migrated inward after the star died; two proposed histories—the engulfment of the planet by the star or gravitational interactions with other bodies—could explain its current orbit, though heating timing favors migration after death. This system offers a preview of how giant planets might survive and evolve when their host stars die, hinting at the distant fate of Jupiter and Saturn in our own solar system.