University of Victoria
First Orbit and Mass from an image of a true Jupiter-Saturn Analog — This project will use the first James Webb Space Telescope images of the nearby planet Epsilon Eridani b, also known as Aegir, to determine its orbit and mass. This planet is anticipated to be quite similar to our solar system’s own planet Jupiter, and it orbits one of the closest sun-like stars just 10 light years away. Measuring its mass and orbit will allow us to learn more about how giant planets form and cool over billions of years, and ultimately end up like (or unlike) our own solar system’s Jupiter and Saturn.