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Wd 1856 B

All articles tagged with #wd 1856 b

space2 hours ago•7 min saved

Jupiter-sized survivor orbits a cooling white dwarf, defying expectations

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope studied WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized planet that survived its Sun-like star’s red-giant phase and now orbits a cooling white dwarf about 75 light-years away. The eight-minute grazing transit revealed an atmosphere with methane and hazes, and a surprisingly hot around-400 K temperature, indicating internal reheating rather than just re-radiating energy from the star. The data favor a late inward migration caused by gravitational interactions with distant stellar companions over a common-envelope origin, suggesting more planetary survivors may await discovery near nearby white dwarfs.

via Ars Technica|

#gas-giant #jwst #planetary-migration

space4 days ago•13 min saved

Webb Reveals Atmosphere on a Jupiter-sized World Orbiting a White Dwarf

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected an atmosphere around WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized planet that orbits the Earth-sized white dwarf WD 1856+534—marking the first atmospheric detection for a world around a dead star. Transmission spectroscopy during a transit revealed hydrocarbons, likely methane, plus a hazy cloud layer and a faint glow from the planet’s night side, indicating residual heat. The planet, about 80 light-years away, completes a close 34-hour orbit and is roughly seven times wider than its star, suggesting a past heating event and likely inward migration after the star’s transformation. The team plans additional Webb transits to better pin down its chemistry and formation history.

via Space Daily|

#jwst #methane #space

space8 days ago•191 min saved

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.

via CNN|

#exoplanet #jwst #planetary-migration

science9 days ago•53 min saved

JWST reveals planets may survive their star’s death

A James Webb Space Telescope study of the Jupiter‑sized exoplanet WD 1856 b orbiting a white dwarf shows that planets can survive the death of their star and even migrate inward, with measurements of its mass, temperature, and atmosphere suggesting past heating during the star’s red‑giant phase. This provides a forward glimpse into our solar system’s fate: in about 5 billion years the Sun will become a red giant, likely destroying the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, possibly Earth) while more distant worlds may endure in altered orbits, illustrating that stellar death can reshape—but not necessarily end—planetary systems.

via Yahoo|

#earth #james-webb-space-telescope #science