Searching for Planets around Altair with JWST/NIRcam
7 affiliations
- 1NASA Exoplanet Science Institute
- 2IPAC
- 3California Institute of Technology
- 4Space Telescope Science Institute
- 5University of Arizona
- 6University of Michigan
- 7University of Hawaii
Abstract
Altair ( α Aql) is one of the nearest stars to the Sun at 5.13 pc and its age has recently been revised to 88 ± 10 Myr, making it one of the youngest stars in the solar neighborhood. This makes Altair a compelling target for high-contrast direct imaging searches for giant planets. We present two epochs of simultaneous F444W and F200W MASK430R JWST/NIRCam coronagraphic imaging observations. After postprocessing, these data achieve F444W contrast levels of 2 × 10 ⁻⁶ at 1″ (5.1 au), 1.5 × 10 ⁻⁷ at 2″ (10.3 au), and a few ×10 ⁻⁸ beyond 4″(20 au). Using the Sonora Flame Skimmer models, this corresponds to sub-Jupiter mass sensitivity beyond 5 au and sub-Saturn mass sensitivity beyond 10 au. We identified several candidate point sources in the field in the first epoch data. Second epoch observations confirmed that none of the candidates were co-moving with Altair and their colors are consistent with background stars. Altair has no known companions, no detected debris disk, and is not associated with any stellar association. Despite this, its youth and proximity ensure it will remain a high-priority target for future high-contrast imaging observations. We additionally discuss Altair as a potential reference star for future observations, presenting measurements of background sources in the field and showing that Altair will remain at least a few arcsec from background stars over the next 10–20 yr, making it a reliable reference target for upcoming imaging campaigns including the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument.
Related
- The occurrence rate of planets around subgiant stars from the TESS photometric survey
- Model-Based Retrieval of Four Years of JWST/NIRCam Wavefronts
- Planets Around Solar Twins/Analogs (PASTA). III. Chemical clock relations in planet-hosting solar analogs
- geko : A tool for modelling galaxy kinematics and morphology in JWST /NIRCam slitless spectroscopic observations
- Increasing Sensitivity to Trailed Solar System Objects in Archival JWST NIRCam Imaging with Group Differencing
BibTeX
@article{meshkat2026searching,
title = {{Searching for Planets around Altair with JWST/NIRcam}},
author = {Tiffany Meshkat and Charles Beichman and Jorge Llop-Sayson and Geoffrey Bryden and Alexandra Z. Greenbaum and Eric E. Mamajek and Marie Ygouf and Julien Girard and Jarron Leisenring and Aniket Sanghi and Marshall Perrin and Michael Meyer and Laurent Pueyo and William Balmer and András Gáspár and Klaus Hodapp},
journal = {The Astronomical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-3881/aeac14},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aeac14},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Searching for Planets around Altair with JWST/NIRcam
AU - Tiffany Meshkat
AU - Charles Beichman
AU - Jorge Llop-Sayson
AU - Geoffrey Bryden
AU - Alexandra Z. Greenbaum
AU - Eric E. Mamajek
AU - Marie Ygouf
AU - Julien Girard
AU - Jarron Leisenring
AU - Aniket Sanghi
AU - Marshall Perrin
AU - Michael Meyer
AU - Laurent Pueyo
AU - William Balmer
AU - András Gáspár
AU - Klaus Hodapp
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - The Astronomical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/aeac14
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aeac14
AB - Altair ( α Aql) is one of the nearest stars to the Sun at 5.13 pc and its age has recently been revised to 88 ± 10 Myr, making it one of the youngest stars in the solar neighborhood. This makes Altair a compelling target for high-contrast direct imaging searches for giant planets. We present two epochs of simultaneous F444W and F200W MASK430R JWST/NIRCam coronagraphic imaging observations. After postprocessing, these data achieve F444W contrast levels of 2 × 10 ⁻⁶ at 1″ (5.1 au), 1.5 × 10 ⁻⁷ at 2″ (10.3 au), and a few ×10 ⁻⁸ beyond 4″(20 au). Using the Sonora Flame Skimmer models, this corresponds to sub-Jupiter mass sensitivity beyond 5 au and sub-Saturn mass sensitivity beyond 10 au. We identified several candidate point sources in the field in the first epoch data. Second epoch observations confirmed that none of the candidates were co-moving with Altair and their colors are consistent with background stars. Altair has no known companions, no detected debris disk, and is not associated with any stellar association. Despite this, its youth and proximity ensure it will remain a high-priority target for future high-contrast imaging observations. We additionally discuss Altair as a potential reference star for future observations, presenting measurements of background sources in the field and showing that Altair will remain at least a few arcsec from background stars over the next 10–20 yr, making it a reliable reference target for upcoming imaging campaigns including the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument.
SN - 0004-6256
SN - 1538-3881
ER -