2010/01/03 by Charles A. Beichman, Charles A Beichman, John Krist +11 · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Brightness #Direct imaging #Giant planet #James Webb Space Telescope #Jupiter (rocket family) #Orbit (dynamics) #Planet #Planetary system #Scientific Research and Discoveries #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.IM #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/651057
Accepted for publication in Publication of the Astronomical Society Pacific
arxiv created 2010/01/03 · openalex publication_date 2010/02/01 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2019/06/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
High-contrast imaging can find and characterize gas giant planets around nearby young stars and the closest M stars, complementing radial velocity and astrometric searches by exploring orbital separations inaccessible to indirect methods. Ground-based coronagraphs are already probing within 25 AU of nearby young stars to find objects as small as ∼3 M Jup . This paper contrasts near-term and future ground-based capabilities with high-contrast imaging modes of the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ). Monte Carlo modeling reveals that JWST can detect planets with masses as small as 0.2 M Jup across a broad range of orbital separations. We present new calculations for planet brightness as a function of mass and age for specific JWST filters and extending to 0.1 M Jup .