Overview

• Two papers accepted in The Astrophysical Journal Letters present JWST’s MIRI coronagraph revealing a faint object near Alpha Centauri A detected in August 2024.
• Follow-up JWST observations in February and April 2025 failed to detect the candidate because its orbit placed it too close to the star for imaging.
• Orbital simulations incorporating earlier ground-based hints and JWST data trace the object’s elliptical path between approximately 1 and 2 astronomical units.
• The candidate’s estimated mass (comparable to Saturn) and size (similar to Jupiter) allow it to sweep across much of the habitable zone, likely destabilizing smaller rocky worlds.
• A JWST revisit is scheduled for August 2026 to target the candidate at a more favorable orbital phase and verify its existence.