Overview

• The initial August 2024 MIRI coronagraphic observations revealed a faint mid-infrared source roughly 10,000 times dimmer than Alpha Centauri A at about two astronomical units separation.
• Director’s Discretionary observations in February and April 2025 failed to detect the source, leading researchers to call it a “disappearing planet.”
• Orbit simulations combining a 2019 VLT sighting with the Webb data produced millions of gravitationally stable eccentric trajectories that would move the object too close to the star at certain epochs.
• Brightness and orbital modeling indicate the candidate is a gas giant roughly Saturn’s mass located in the star’s habitable zone, unlikely to be habitable itself but possibly hosting moons with liquid water.
• Teams are planning targeted high-contrast imaging campaigns with JWST and complementary observations using NASA’s Roman Space Telescope to confirm and characterize the planetary candidate.