JWST spots a Jupiter-sized world dancing around a white dwarf, hinting at our Sun’s distant fate
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope observed WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet transiting a white dwarf about 80 light-years away. The planet completes an ultra-tight 1.4-day orbit and is hotter than expected, likely due to past heating during the star’s red giant phase or inward migration. The team proposes two possible migration scenarios and notes that JWST’s capabilities enable studying planets orbiting stellar remnants, offering a forward look at the solar system’s distant future. The findings, published in Nature, also highlight the challenge of catching such a transit, which lasts about eight minutes.