NASA’s flagship James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed its first direct image of an extrasolar planet, the exoplanet HIP 65426 b. “Astronomers have been waiting for more than two decades for JWST to come to fruition,” said University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) professor Michael Liu, a member of the JWST Early Release Science program studying this exoplanet. “It’s so gratifying to see the first data from this telescope happening, and so exciting to think about what’s next with future JWST observations.” Researchers first discovered HIP 65426 b in 2017 using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, using images taken at short infrared wavelengths (colors of light). With a mass 6–12 times that of Jupiter, this planet is considered a gas giant, meaning it has no solid surface and is not habitable. “The new capability of JWST is that the planet can be observed at wavelengths that cannot be detected from the ground, namely the cold infrared emission,” Liu explained. “This allows us to precisely measure the total amount of energy emitted by the planet, which helps tell us about its physical state.”
UH discovery among first images of JWST
In July, NASA and the White House released the inaugural image of the space telescope’s historic mission of a massive galaxy cluster previously spotted by IfA researchers nearly 20 years ago. Flagged as a potentially extremely massive cluster by the IfA team, SMACSJ 0723 was soon confirmed following observations made with the European Southern Observatory’s 3.5m telescope in Chile. SMACSJ 0723 is an extremely massive cluster of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared.
Innovative sensors designed with UH
Technology developed and tested at IfA and Maunakea is behind JWST’s ability to peer deeper into space than previously possible. Sixteen near-infrared sensors known as HAWAII-2RG are part of JWST’s science instruments, allowing it to capture near-infrared light from deep space, far exceeding the capability of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. These sensors are the culmination of years of research and development by IfA scientists and engineers. The first prototypes were developed and tested by UH astronomers Don Hall, Klaus Hodapp, Doug Simons, along with IfA instrument engineer Shane Jacobson.
