NASA’s James Webb Telescope Discovers Fourth Planet in Kepler-51 System

A team of researchers led by Jessica Libby-Roberts from Penn State University and Kento Masuda from Osaka University have discovered a new planet in the Kepler-51 system using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The system, which is about 2,600 light-years from Earth, already had three known planets, but the new discovery was made possible by analyzing transit timing variations.

This marks the first time a planet has been discovered using this method with the James Webb Space Telescope. The new planet, Kepler-51e, has a mass similar to the other three planets and follows a fairly circular orbit of about 264 days.

In a groundbreaking study, an international team of researchers has made a remarkable discovery, uncovering a fourth planet in the Kepler-51 system using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Apache Point Observatory (APO). This finding marks the first time a planet has been detected using transit timing variations with JWST.

The research team, led by Dr. Libby-Roberts and Dr. Kento Masuda, initially set out to observe the transit of Kepler-51d, a known exoplanet in the system. However, their observations began earlier than expected, and they were surprised to find that the star’s brightness dipped two hours before predicted.

To confirm their findings, the team analyzed data from APO, JWST, and other telescopes, including NASA’s Kepler space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Palomar Observatory telescope. They also revisited previous transit data and conducted a “brute force” search to test various planet properties.

Their results suggest that the new planet, Kepler-51e, has a mass similar to the other three planets in the system and follows a fairly circular orbit of approximately 264 days. Although it has not yet been observed transiting, the researchers believe it is likely a super puff planet, like its inner counterparts.

The discovery of Kepler-51e has significant implications for our understanding of planetary formation and evolution. The team notes that accounting for this fourth planet changes the expected masses of the other planets in the system, which in turn affects their inferred properties.

“Super puff planets are fairly rare, and when they do occur, they tend to be the only one in a planetary system,” said Dr. Libby-Roberts. “Now we have to explain a fourth planet, whether it’s a super puff or not.”

The researchers emphasize that additional observing time is needed to fully understand the impacts of Kepler-51e’s gravity on the inner three planets and to search for potential life-supporting planets in the system.

This study demonstrates the power of JWST and transit timing variations in detecting new exoplanets, particularly those with longer orbital periods. As the team continues to analyze the rest of the JWST data, they may uncover more secrets about the Kepler-51 system and its intriguing super puff planets.