A new JWST method finds 51 Eridani b in starlight glare
A Northwestern University team’s FLIP method improved JWST’s sensitivity to faint planets by 2 to 15 times in tests of existing observations, according to the study published in Nature. It recovered the known giant planet 51 Eridani b in data where conventional processing could not separate it from its star’s glare.
Bottom line — FLIP recovered 51 Eridani b at 4.3 microns, where carbon dioxide absorbs infrared light.
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The team tested FLIP on JWST observations of HIP 65426, 51 Eridani and TYC 5899, according to Northwestern University.
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FLIP builds a digital twin of the telescope, modelling how starlight reaches its detectors and accounting for small optical imperfections.
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The team used optimisation techniques similar to those used to train AI models, but did not use AI to identify planets, co-author Jason Wang told Northwestern.
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Coronagraphs block most starlight, but residual glare can remain; conventional processing often subtracts an image of a reference star.
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The planet had already been discovered using ground-based telescopes; FLIP revealed it in JWST data where standard processing had failed, according to Phys.org.
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Scientific American reports that the method’s gains are greatest close to stars, where planets are harder to distinguish from glare.
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Researchers say FLIP could help analyse existing observations and inform work on NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory.
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