Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System

INBOX ASTRONOMY

NASA's Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System

Release date: Wednesday, July 15, 2026 8:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NASA's Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System



Planet found through its atmospheric fingerprint opens new way to uncover worlds hidden in starlight

Few planetary systems have shaped astronomers’ understanding of planet formation as profoundly as Beta Pictoris. Since the discovery of its famous debris disk in 1983, observations with ground- and space-based telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, have revealed exocomets, intricate dust structure, giant exoplanets, and evidence of a planetary system still under construction. Now, Webb has uncovered a third giant planet using an entirely new approach: identifying it through the chemical fingerprint of its atmosphere.



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