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When stars like the Sun die do their planets survive? In 5 billion years the Sun will swell into a red giant star, swallowing up the Earth, and maybe even Mars. But what about Jupiter and the rest of the gas giant planets? This month new research has been published, claiming to have found two exoplanets in orbit around two dead white dwarf stars with JWST. These planets are similar in mass to Jupiter, and orbit their stars at a distance similar to Saturn and Neptune in the Solar System.

Mullally et al. (2024; two exoplanets directly imaged around white dwarf stars) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.13153.pdf
JWST proposal 1911 - https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-pub...

My previous video on the history of exoplanet studies -    • The discovery of the first exoplanet ...  
JWST’s first exoplanet discovery -    • JWST has discovered its first exoplan...  
JWST’s claim of a biomarker of life in an exoplanet atmosphere -    • Did JWST find a MARKER OF LIFE in an ...  

00:00 - Introduction
01:30 - Why we need JWST to do this
03:01 - How do you search for exoplanets?
04:06 - The two newly discovered planets
05:59 - Masses and orbits of the two planets
06:13 - What does this mean for the Solar System?
07:01 - AD Interactive learning with Brilliant
08:39 - Bloopers


Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV

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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.


http://drbecky.uk.com
https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk