Scientists have unveiled groundbreaking direct images of a planet outside of our own solar system, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
It is the first exoplanet discovered by the telescope, proving it can detect lighter and more elusive worlds orbiting distant stars.
The planet, named TWA 7b, is situated near a young star about 34 lightyears away, in the constellation Hydra.
It is the lightest exoplanet ever seen through direct imaging, with a mass similar to Saturn and about one-third that of Jupiter, as scientists are now able to study smaller, cooler planets that are more difficult to detect.
The findings were published in the Nature science journal on Wednesday.
Dr Anne-Marie Lagrange, a researcher with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), led the study by an international team.
“Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disc, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass,” she said.
How the planet was found
While thousands of exoplanets have been found over the past three decades, most have been detected through indirect methods. These included measuring the dimming of a star as a planet passes in front of it or by watching for tiny movements in a star caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet.
Only some have ever been directly imaged, and those have typically been enormous gas giants.
TWA 7b was spotted using a powerful coronagraph installed on Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (Miri), a telescope attachment developed the CNRS and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.
The coronagraph acted like a solar eclipse, blocking out the light of a star so that the much fainter objects orbiting nearby could be seen.
This technique helped astronomers spot a faint source of light hidden inside one of the thin dust rings surrounding the star TWA 7.
After ruling out objects such as background galaxies or image glitches, scientists realised the signal was coming from a planet, one that had never been seen before.
Computer simulations showed that the planet was placed exactly where there is a strange gap in the star’s narrow dust ring, which meant strong evidence that its gravity is shaping the ring’s structure.
Building on past space telescope discoveries
Since the telescope’s science operations started in 2022, it has helped scientists make several discoveries. These included helping to confirm the chemical composition of atmospheres of other planets and extreme weather patterns on gas giants.
JWST’s predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, also made valuable discoveries in the early era of direct imaging.
It captured the first visible-light image of an exoplanetary system in 2008, however, it lacked the sensitivity to see planets smaller than Jupiter.
Now, the James Webb Space Telescope is now offering more advanced techniques.
“This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the solar system, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own,” said Mathilde Malin, co-author of the study.
What comes next
The team behind the discovery thinks Webb could soon be able to spot planets with just 10 per cent the mass of Jupiter, getting close to the size of Neptune and “super-Earths”, planets outside the solar system that are larger than Earth but smaller than icy planets like Neptune and Uranus.
TWA 7 b also gives scientists a roadmap for how future space and ground-based telescopes that might detect even smaller, more Earth-like planets.
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The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.
Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.
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Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
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Guillermo Vilas - 659
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1. Fasting
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3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Her most famous song
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Would I ever find you again
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
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Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
War 2
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Rating: 2/5
