How Are Gas Giant Exoplanets Born? James Webb Space Telescope Provides New Clues

How are gas giant exoplanets born? James Webb Space Telescope provides new clues

Astronomers may have just pushed the upper size limit of what counts as a planet, thanks to new insights from the James Webb Space Telescope.

JWST solves a longstanding mystery of giant planet formation

Gas giants are massive worlds made mostly of hydrogen and helium. They lack solid surfaces, and in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn are the best-known examples. Beyond our cosmic neighborhood, astronomers have found gas giants that dwarf Jupiter, blurring the line between planets and brown dwarfs, sometimes called failed stars. How these enormous planets form has been a long-running puzzle in astronomy. Now, new research led by scientists at…

Astronomers Uncover the Formation Process of 'Super Jupiters'

Recent advancements in our understanding of planetary formation have been underscored by groundbreaking findings regarding “super Jupiters,” massive exoplanets that orbit distant stars. Traditionally, it has been theorized that gas giants like Jupiter form through a process known as core accretion, wherein solid cores gradually attract surrounding gas and other materials. This mechanism has been largely accepted for planets within our solar syst…