James Webb Just Discovered Something Disturbing in Alpha Centauri

Описание: JWST found something near the closest Sun-like star to Earth - then it vanished.

In August 2024, astronomers blocked the blinding light of Alpha Centauri A and discovered a faint thermal glow exactly where a Saturn-mass planet would be. Just 4.37 light-years away. In the habitable zone. They tried to debunk it. They couldn't. So they pointed JWST back at the same star - twice. Both times, nothing. The planet had disappeared.

But here's the twist: over half of all simulated orbits say the planet was simply hiding in the one place the telescope can't see. And the next window to catch it opens August 2026.

Sources:
Sanghi, A., Beichman, C., et al. (2025). "Mid-Infrared Detection of a Saturn-Mass Planet Candidate Orbiting Alpha Centauri A." The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/web...

Wagner, K., et al. (2021). "Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri." Nature Communications, 12, 922. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21...

Lagrange, A.-M., et al. (2025). "Evidence for a sub-Jovian planet in the young TWA 7 disk." Nature. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/web...

Suárez Mascareño, A., et al. (2025). "The NIRPS view of the Proxima Centauri planetary system." Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...

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