Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Beta Pictoris System (Artist’s Concept)

Artist's concept of the Beta Pictoris planetary system. One edge of a smooth, dusty disk that looks like cloud wisps extends across the upper third of the image at an angle from 9 o’clock to 2 o’clock. Just below that, in the left third of the image, the star glows white and is small. Just to the left of the star there is a tiny white dot, planet Beta Pictoris c. To the right of the star, about twice the distance between Beta Pictoris c and the star is another bright dot, representing planet Beta Pictoris b. A third planet, Beta Pictoris d is larger than the other two, and appears in the right third of the illustration. The planet has subtle orange cloud bands, and the side facing the star is illuminated. Below this planet, the other wispy edge of the dusty disk that circles the star crosses the bottom right corner of the illustration below Beta Pictoris d from 4 o’clock to 7 o’clock. The black background of space is speckled with distant stars. The words "Artist's Concept" appears at the lower left corner.

This artist’s concept depicts the young Beta Pictoris planetary system with the newly discovered giant exoplanet, Beta Pictoris d, at the right. Beta Pictoris c circles closest to the star (left in this artist’s concept), Beta Pictoris b follows on a wider orbit, and the newly discovered Beta Pictoris d lies farther out, just inside the debris disk’s inner edge. In this artist’s concept, the planets are shown at their correct relative orbital distances, but the planets themselves have been enlarged and are not to scale relative to their orbits.

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently discovered Beta Pictoris d not through conventional imaging, but through spectroscopy, first detecting the unique chemical signature of its atmosphere.

  • Release Date
    July 15, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Downloads

  • Full Res Watermarked - "Artist's Concept" (For Display), 3840x2160, 3840 × 2160
    jpg (1.45 MB)
  • Full Res Watermarked - "Artist's Concept" (For Print), 3840x2160, 3840 × 2160
    tif (31.65 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 3840x2160, 3840 × 2160
    tif (31.65 MB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 3840x2160, 3840 × 2160
    jpg (1.43 MB)
  • Half Res (For Display), 1920x1080, 1920 × 1080
    jpg (282.08 KB)

Related Images & Videos

Infographic titled u201cGas Giant Exoplanet Beta Pictoris d; Atmospheric Composition.u201d The image at the left shows two exoplanets of the Beta Pictoris system. At the center, there is a white star symbol, which represents light blocked from the host star. Immediately to the left of the star symbol, there is a bright orange-whitesh smudge, labeled b. To the right of the star symbol is a blurry orange smudge labeled d. There is a white circle around this smudge with lines drawn to the spectrum at the right. The x-axis is labeled u201cWavelength of Lightu201d and extends from 4.2 to 5.2 microns. The y-axis is labeled u201cBrightness.u201d An up arrow is labeled u201cbrighter,u201d a down arrow u201cdimmer.u201d There are two jagged horizontal lines across the graph. One is white, then other is maroon (the former labeled u201cWebb datau201d, the latter labeled u201cBest fit modelu201d in the bottom left corner). A blue vertical column spanning from about 4.3 microns to 5 microns is labeled Carbon Monoxide, CO.

Beta Pictoris System (NIRSpec IFU Image and Spectrum)

Researchers used the NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) Integral Field Unit on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map chemical contents of the Beta Pictoris system. As a result, they discovered a third planet, Beta Pictoris d, orbiting the young star.

An image of the Beta Pictoris system, with two exoplanets shown. The view is black. At the center of the image, there is a white star symbol, which represents light blocked from the host star. Immediately to the left of the star symbol, there is a bright orange-whitesh smudge, labeled b. To the right of the star symbol, further away, is a blurry orange smudge labeled d. There is a blue dashed circle around the entire system, labeled u201csize of Neptuneu2019s orbit.u201d

Beta Pictoris System (NIRSpec IFU Image Annotated)

The newly discovered third planet orbiting Beta Pictoris, Beta Pictoris d, is seen in reconstructed imagery from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph).

Share

Details

Last Updated
Jul 15, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From Webb

James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…

Science Overview

Webb Observatory

Webb Image Galleries