Alpha Centauri A and Planet (Artist’s Concept)

This artist’s concept shows what the gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A could look like. Observations of the triple star system Alpha Centauri using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope indicate the potential gas giant, about the mass of Saturn, orbiting the star by about two times the distance between the Sun and Earth.

In this concept, Alpha Centauri A is depicted at the upper left of the planet, while the other Sun-like star in the system, Alpha Centauri B, is at the upper right. Our Sun is shown as a small dot of light between those two stars.

[Image description: llustration of a large spherical object that looks like a gas giant planet. The object appears to have bands of tan, orange, and dark red horizontal lines forming patterns similar to those in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The background is filled with thousands of distant stars that form a Milky Way-like band running from left to right. The host star, Alpha Centauri A, appears as a glowing white circle to the upper left of the planet. Further off in the distance above and to the right of the planet is a smaller glowing circle, nearby Alpha Centauri B. The words “Artist’s Concept” are in the lower left corner.]