Overview
- Astronomers reported Wednesday in Astrophysical Journal Letters that JWST’s mid‑infrared camera directly imaged Epsilon Indi Ab, a Jupiter-like planet about 12 light-years away.
- Using a MIRI coronagraph to block the star and photometry at 10.6 μm and new 11.3 μm wavelengths, the team found weaker ammonia than standard models predict.
- The data point to thick, patchy water‑ice clouds that likely sit high in the atmosphere and mute the ammonia signal.
- Epsilon Indi Ab is measured at about 7.6 times Jupiter’s mass with a similar diameter, it orbits roughly four times Jupiter’s Sun distance, and its estimated temperature is 200–300 K.
- The finding underscores that many atmosphere models need cloud physics, and the team plans more JWST observations as NASA’s Roman telescope could check for reflective ice clouds after its planned 2026–2027 launch.