The recently discovered exoplanet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than its counterpart Beta Pictoris b, the first planet identified around the A5 star Beta Pictoris. This new celestial body is among the lightest exoplanets ever imaged from the ground.
Artist’s impression of the Beta Pictoris system, showing the newly discovered exoplanet Beta Pictoris d on the right. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Ralf Crawford, STScI.
Positioned approximately 63 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor, Beta Pictoris is a star with about 1.8 times the mass of our Sun and is only 20 million years old.
It features a circumstellar disk of gas and dust, which includes various comet-like bodies and two previously known giant planets: Beta Pictoris b and c.
Beta Pictoris b, a massive planet weighing between 9 and 13 times that of Jupiter, completes an orbit around its star every 22 years at a distance of 9.8 AU (astronomical units).
In contrast, Beta Pictoris c, which has 8.2 times the mass of Jupiter, orbits much closer to the star at 2.7 AU, with an orbital period of about 1,200 days.
The discovery of Beta Pictoris d marks the second-known planetary system that contains at least three imaged planets.
“This was an unexpected find,” said Dr. Ben Sutlief, an astronomer at the University of Edinburgh. “We originally aimed to closely observe Beta Pictoris b to study its changes over time.”
An image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope showing Beta Pictoris d, with the planet indicated by an arrow. The star is positioned at the center of the frame. Image credit: ESO / Sutlieff et al.
Upon analyzing images of the Beta Pictoris system, Dr. Sutlief and colleagues noticed an intriguing anomaly, separate from Beta Pictoris b, opening a new avenue of exploration.
To verify their findings, the team accessed the ESO Archive, which holds records of past observations made at ESO facilities.
They uncovered images of Beta Pictoris d dating back 11 years, with some only recently discernible amidst the glare of its brighter neighbor, Beta Pictoris b.
Dr. Jane Birkby, an astronomer at the University of Oxford, remarked, “Beta Pictoris d has seemingly played hide-and-seek for over a decade, but we’ve finally confirmed its existence!”
Similar to Jupiter and Saturn, Beta Pictoris d is classified as a gas giant but boasts a significantly wider orbit than the other planets in its system.
With a mass of just 2.4 times that of Jupiter, Beta Pictoris d ranks among the lightest exoplanets ever imaged from the ground. Its relatively low temperature contributes to its faintness compared to its host star.
“This new planet is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, making it the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth,” explained ESO astronomer Dr. Markus Bonse.
Beta Pictoris d as seen in reconstructed images from the Near Infrared Spectrometer aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Aidan Gibbs, UC San Diego/Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, UC San Diego/Alyssa Pagan, STScI.
The first definitive detection of Beta Pictoris d was achieved using the ERIS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
Similarly, an independent research team led by Aidan Gibbs from the University of California, San Diego, also observed the same planet using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
“This discovery introduces a new dimension to an already intriguing planetary system,” Dr. Gibbs remarked. “Beta Pictoris has long been a crucial laboratory for understanding planetary formation and evolution, and Beta Pictoris d adds to that narrative.”
These findings are detailed in two papers published in the same *Astrophysical Journal Letter* issue. Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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Ben J. Sutlief et al. 2026. Discovery of direct images of the giant exoplanet Beta Pictoris D: A 10-year game of hide-and-seek. APJL 1006, L10; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae80a0
Aidan Gibbs et al. 2026. Discovery of a third exoplanet orbiting Beta Pictoris. APJL 1006, L11; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae801b
Source: www.sci.news