Even though scientist have now discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets , or major planet outside our solar organization , it ’s a rare affair that any telescope can take an image of one of these planet . That ’s because they are so small and dim compared to the stars that they revolve around that it ’s easier to observe their presence based on their effects on the virtuoso rather than them being find directly .

However , thanks to its prodigious sensitiveness , the James Webb Space Telescope was recently capable to image two potential exoplanets orb around low , cold cores of dead stars calledwhite dwarfsdirectly .

White dwarf are the meat that remain after a star , like our Lord’s Day , comes to the end of its life . In around 5 billion twelvemonth ’ time , our sunshine will puff up to a much larger size , growing to 200 time its old wheel spoke and engulfing Mercury , Venus , and maybe even Earth before collapsing down to a cool core . In around six billion age ’ time all that will rest is this dumb core , give off only residuary warmth .

Because of the furiousness of this huffing up and collapse process , the environs around livid dwarf are n’t very hospitable places for planets . Only a few satellite - like target have been find out orbit lily-white dwarfs , though investigator looking atthe amount of metal found in white dwarfssuggest that planets may be able to survive the red midget form .

These major planet would be slick to detect because of the dim light given off by white dwarf , so there could be many of these planets out there , but they are unvoiced for us to spot .

research worker using James Webb , however , have evidence of what looks like two giant exoplanets orb white dwarfs . They took unmediated simulacrum using Webb ’s MIRI official document , which was sensitive enough to see what appear to be planets even though it does n’t have a coronagraph — a extra type of shade used to block up out light from a star .

“ The sensitivity and solving of MIRI along with the easy - gather power of JWST have made it potential to see previously unobserved center - cured elephantine planets orbiting nearby stars , all without a coronagraph , ” the author wrote in their paper depict theresearch .

These possible exoplanets are particularly interesting as they give a preview of what could bechance to the giant satellite in our solar system , like Jupiter and Saturn , in billion of years ’ clip . ”These nominee would be the oldest straightaway imaged planet outside our own solar system , and in many ways are more like the planet in our proscribed solar scheme than ever discovered before , ” the authors write .

The inquiry is published inThe Astrophysical Journal Letters .