SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 — The universe continues to unfold and Thayne Currie, UTSA associate professor of astrophysics, is thrilled with the first-ever images of distant worlds seen by the James Webb Science Telescope (JWST).
As a member of the JWST Early Release Science Program in Exoplanet Direct Imaging, Currie is among a handful of professors in the UTSA College of Sciences’ Department of Physics and Astronomy who are taking part in unveiling the galactic discoveries realized by the JWST.
JWST recently captured the exoplanet, called HIP 65426 b, through several different light filters. An exoplanet—also called an extrasolar planet—is a planet outside a solar system that orbits another star.
The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured the exoplanet HIP 65426 b through several different light filters.
Over 5,000 exoplanets have now been discovered. Exoplanets have a wide range of properties from massive gas giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, ice giants like Neptune, and terrestrial planets primarily comprised of silicates or metals.
Like Jupiter, the JWST-imaged exoplanet HIP 65426 b is a gas giant planet. However, it is about seven times more massive than Jupiter, almost 50% larger in radius, and orbits 18 times further from its star than Jupiter orbits from the Sun. While planets within the solar system are about 4.5 billion years old, HIP 65426 b is likely a newly formed planet aged around 10 to 20 million years old.
Observing an exoplanet in a range of various wavelengths, Currie explained, sheds light on information about its composition and provides better insights on the formation and evolution of planets within our solar system.
“For thousands of years, we only knew about planets in our own solar system. In the last 30 years, we have discovered planets around other stars; about 20 have been imaged,” Currie said. “This recent image is captured using mid-infrared wavelengths that give us better clues about its luminosity, temperature and other atmospheric properties.”
This image provided by NASA shows the different types of exoplanet types that are known to exist.
The JWST launched last year on Christmas Day aboard a rocket in French Guinea. The telescope is the largest and most powerful space science telescope in (and out of) the world, efficiently producing images of space with the sharpest details. When it was being designed 25 years ago, none of the exoplanets that are known today had been discovered yet. Now, scientists are able to study atmospheric compositions in depth, discovering properties like water vapor.
In the future, Currie hopes to use the JWST to reveal images of exoplanets more like those in our solar system and potentially habitable worlds.
“The direct-imaging capabilities of the Webb Telescope may be even more powerful than we anticipated, allowing us to study planets at wavelengths where it is difficult to image them from the ground,” Currie said. “I’m excited that we can bring the opportunity to study exoplanets using NASA telescopes like the Webb into the classroom for students to discover the universe.”
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
This academically rigorous mathematics-based summer enrichment program prepares middle and high school students for advanced studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participants learn about problem-solving systems, develop greater awareness of STEM careers and strengthen their research skills.
UTSA Main CampusArchaeology 101 will introduce campers to archaeology and build on learned skills through experimental activities (like cave painting, weaving, and garbology).
Center for Archaeological Research, UTSA Main CampusThe camp exposes rising high school juniors, rising seniors and incoming college freshman to the many facets of the criminal justice system. Students will have opportunities to learn the functions of police in society and apply scientific theories to criminal investigations by examining a mock crime scene.
UTSA Main CampusThe Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center invites you to join us for the Summer Bridging Institute. This institute will focus on being lifelong growers and continually seeking to increase our skills as educators.
UTSA Downtown CampusArchaeology 201 will briefly go over the foundations of archaeology and related skills, followed by a different topic over the course of this week (like skeletal analysis, global cultures, and more).
Center for Archaeological Research, UTSA Main CampusCraft a comic to create your own narrative and find your voice through storytelling. Participants will learn to create characters that are self-reflective and through a community lens.
REGSS Community Room (DB 3.202,) UTSA Downtown CampusCome enjoy a discussion on art as a self expression in the age of moving technology and telling your story with a community.
REGSS Community Room (DB 3.202,) UTSA Downtown CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.