Physics-based processing improves Webb planet imaging sensitivity

Researchers report 2-15 times better sensitivity in James Webb Space Telescope planet imaging using software that models and subtracts stellar glare, according to a study published in Nature. The method recovered the first image of giant planet 51 Eridani b at 4.3 μm, where standard processing had yielded no detection. Called FLIP, the method adjusts a physical model of the telescope and detector to compensate for instrument changes between observations. The researchers tested it on real observations from Webb's Near-Infrared Camera, using artificial planet signals to limit the risk of erasing real planets during optimization. None of the tested observations reached the fundamental photon noise limit.