India, July 16 -- Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified a new giant exoplanet, Beta Pictoris d, hidden within the famous Beta Pictoris planetary system. The discovery makes the system only the second known to contain three directly imaged planets. It also highlights a breakthrough method for finding exoplanets by analysing the chemical fingerprints of their atmospheres through spectroscopy, instead of depending only on traditional imaging. The discovery has been detailed in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

What Is Beta Pictoris d?

Beta Pictoris d is a giant exoplanet orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris, located about 63 light-years from Earth. The star system is around 23 mil...