How Can We Find Hidden Planets?

Planets are very small and faint compared to the stars they orbit, which makes them very difficult to observe, but newly formed planets have much more dramatic effects on the gas and dusty disks they come from. 

Production Details

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA and STScI except:

• Webb telescope animation courtesy of NASA, SkyWorks Digital, Northrop Grumman, STScI 

The science operations for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, developed in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, are conducted by AURA’s Space Telescope Science Institute.

Many thanks to Greg Bacon, John Godfrey, Hussein Jirdeh, Jason Kalirai, Brandon Lawton, Alexandra Lockwood, Marc Lussier, Charlie McWade, Bonnie Meinke, Joseph Olmsted, Roy Renza, Denise Smith, and Frank Summers.