NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured high-resolution information on two young exoplanets, providing astrophysicists with fresh details about exoplanet atmospheres and formation.
The new Webb findings reveal intriguing details about each planet, including one’s unusual moon-forming disk and the other’s silicate clouds. The planets reside in a super-solar system centered on the star YSES-1.
James Webb Space Telescope Data
Dr. Kielan Hoch and an international team led the research using spectroscopic data from JWST. The two gas giants orbit YSES-1, a sun-like star, though the planets are several times larger than Jupiter and orbit much farther from their star than Jupiter does from the Sun. This solar system showcases the remarkable diversity of planetary environments in the universe.
To study the planets’ atmospheres, the team analyzed their emission spectra. Because atmospheric molecules absorb specific wavelengths of light, these spectra help identify the chemical components present.
“When we looked at the smaller, farther-out companion, known as YSES 1-c, we found the tell-tale signature of silicate clouds in the mid-infrared. Essentially made of sand-like particles, this is the strongest silicate absorption feature observed in an exoplanet yet,” said co-author Dr. Evert Nasedkin, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Physics.
Young Planets
“We believe this is linked to the relative youth of the planets: younger planets are slightly larger in radius, and this extended atmosphere may allow the cloud to absorb more of the light emitted by the planet,” Dr. Nasedkin added. “Using detailed modelling, we were able to identify the chemical composition of these clouds, as well as details about the shapes and sizes of the cloud particles.”
Although the YSES-1 system is relatively young, it is no longer expected to contain a planet-forming disk. Yet one of its planets, YSES-1b, appears to host one of the first moon-forming disks ever observed. Only two other known examples of such disks exist, both surrounding significantly younger planets, raising questions about how YSES-1b has managed to retain this material for so long.
“Overall, this work highlights the incredible abilities of JWST to characterise exoplanet atmospheres. With only a handful of exoplanets that can be directly imaged, the YSES-1 system offers unique insights into the atmospheric physics and formation processes of these distant giants,” said Dr. Nasedkin.
Understanding Our Local System
Studying solar systems like YSES-1 helps scientists better understand the origins of our own. Observing the formation of Jupiter-like planets in other systems provides clues to the building blocks that shaped the early solar system.
“This program was proposed before the launch of JWST. It was unique, as we hypothesised that the NIRSpec instrument on the future telescope should be able to observe both planets in its field of view in a single exposure, essentially, giving us two for the price of one. Our simulations ended up being correct post-launch, providing the most detailed dataset of a multi-planet system to date,” said lead author Dr. Kielan Hoch, Giacconi Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
“The YSES-1 system planets are also too widely separated to be explained through current formation theories, so the additional discoveries of distinct silicate clouds around YSES-1 c and small hot dusty material around YSES-1 b lead to more mysteries and complexities for determining how planets form and evolve,” Dr. Hoch continued.
“This research was also led by a team of early career researchers, such as postdocs and graduate students, who make up the first five authors of the paper. This work would not have been possible without their creativity and hard work, which is what aided in making these incredible multidisciplinary discoveries,” Dr. Hoch concluded.
The paper “Silicate Clouds and a Circumplanetary Disk in the YSES-1 Exoplanet System” appeared on June 10, 2025, in Nature.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
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