James Webb directs its attention towards the coldest exoplanet ever identified.

      In this depiction, WD 1856 b, a possible Jupiter-sized planet, revolves around its much smaller host star, a faint white dwarf.

      The James Webb Space Telescope has examined an exceptionally cool exoplanet — literally. This massive planet, which has a mass six times that of Jupiter, is the coldest exoplanet ever discovered, with an average temperature of -87 degrees Celsius (-125 degrees Fahrenheit).

      This temperature is similar to the coldest recorded temperature on Earth, which occurred in Antarctica near the south pole during the peak of winter. Therefore, while Planet WD 1856+534 b is situated just 81 light-years away, we would not recommend it as a holiday destination.

      The planet's unusually low temperature is due to the star it orbits. Despite being in close proximity to its star, which typically would lead to a high surface temperature, the star in this case is nearly extinguished. The host star is classified as a white dwarf, which represents the dense core left after a star exhausts its fuel. When medium-sized stars reach the end of their life cycles, they lose their outer layers and stop generating heat through fusion, although they retain residual heat and gradually cool over time.

      White dwarfs are quite common within our galaxy, so the existence of exoplanets in orbit around them is significant — it suggests the possibility of habitable worlds around these dying stars.

      Researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, studying this frigid exoplanet were uncertain about the planet's ability to survive in this environment. This uncertainty stems from the fact that, during the death of such a star, it expands into a red giant before collapsing into a core. Had the planet existed in its current position during this phase, it would have been engulfed by the red giant. Instead, the researchers propose that the planet likely originated further away and gradually migrated closer to the star.

      "WD 1856+534 b is now the first intact exoplanet confirmed within a white dwarf’s 'forbidden zone,' an area where planets would have been consumed during the star’s red giant stage," the researchers reported. "Its existence offers direct evidence that planetary migration into close orbits — even into the habitable zone — around white dwarfs is feasible."

      The findings will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

      Georgina has been a space writer for Digital Trends for six years, covering topics in human space exploration and planetary science.

      In other news, if you have been following the story of an asteroid that could potentially strike Earth in 2032, there are both bad and good updates. The bad news is that the chances of the asteroid impacting Earth have slightly increased, but the good news is that astronomers are actively monitoring it with tools like the James Webb Space Telescope for more detailed observations.

      The likelihood that Asteroid 2024 YR4 will collide with Earth on December 22, 2032, has now risen to 2.3%, according to NASA. The asteroid is being tracked by ground-based telescopes that are part of the International Asteroid Warning Network, which will continue to monitor it until it becomes too faint to observe, expected to be around April of this year, after which it will be invisible until 2028.

      In yet another development, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has inspired a new series of stamps from the United States Postal Service (USPS) — highlighting its significant impact on science and astronomy. Two new stamps, released this month, feature notable images taken by Webb, one depicting a spiral galaxy known as NGC 628. “Webb’s observations use near- and mid-infrared light to show radiant gas and dust in striking shades of orange and red, as well as delicate spiral formations with a jagged appearance,” NASA explained about the image, noting that the galaxy is located 32 million light-years away in the Pisces constellation.

      Additionally, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of the ancient Spiderweb cluster, which is approximately 10 billion years old. This new image reveals thousands of shimmering galaxies, as the telescope peers through layers of dust with its infrared instruments to uncover hidden details. At the center of the image lies the Spiderweb protocluster, a collection of galaxies in the early stages of forming a "cosmic city." The light from the Spiderweb cluster has been traveling for an incredible 10 billion years to reach us, providing a glimpse into the universe's formative stages. Astronomers are eager to study this interaction among over 100 galaxies, as it reflects how galaxies grouped together when the universe was still in its infancy.