Alpha Centauri 3 Panel (DSS, Hubble, Webb)

This image shows the Alpha Centauri star system from several different ground- and space-based observatories: the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Alpha Centauri A is the third brightest star in the night sky, and the closest Sun-like star to Earth.

The ground-based image from DSS shows the triple system as a single source of light, while Hubble resolves the two Sun-like stars in the system, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.

The image from Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), which uses a coronagraphic mask to block the bright glare from Alpha Centauri A, reveals a potential planet orbiting the star.

[Image description: Three panels, each showing a different view of the binary star system Alpha Centauri. The panel on the left is a Digitized Sky Survey image showing a single bright blue point source at the center of a black image with small stars scattered throughout. The very center of this bright source is outlined with a vertical box, tilted slightly to the left, with two diagonal lines leading to the second panel. The second panel is a Hubble Space Telescope image that shows two white stars with 4 diffraction spikes each against a black background. The top star is labeled Alpha Cen B and the bottom Alpha Cen A. Alpha Cen A is outlined with a white square with two diagonal lines leading to the third panel at the furthest right, which shows a James Webb Space Telescope image of the star. An orange star icon and central black circle outlined in white marks the location of Alpha Cen A. A large white circle outlines a blurry red-toned field that surrounds the location of the star. A bright orange blob at 9 o’clock in relation to the star is labeled “S1” and circled]