Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered one of the oldest and coldest-known exoplanets by directly imaging its host star (see image, below).
It’s the first time JWST has imaged an exoplanet that had not already been imaged using a ground-based telescope.
Exoplanets are planets that orbit a star other than our sun. Almost all of the 5,000 known exoplanets have been discovered indirectly using the transit method, detecting changes in the light of a star as a planet crosses in front of its disk.
Lensculture photographer painter alumni of Cooper Union