The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an exoplanet unlike any previously studied, opening fresh questions about how worlds form and what their atmospheres can contain. Officially named as PSR J2322-2650b, this distant world orbits a pulsar , a rapidly spinning neutron star left over after a massive star’s supernova. Scientists using the James Webb observed through it's infrared instruments that this Jupiter-mass planet is stretched into a lemon-like shape by extreme gravitational forces and has an atmospheric composition that defies existing models. Scientists describe the findings as unexpected and puzzling, making this discovery a milestone in exoplanet research. The paper appeared on Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>A Planet Around an Unusual Host</h2> According to Live Science, PSR J2322-2650b is located some 750 light-years from Earth and completes a full orbit around its star in just 7.8 hours because it lies extremely close to it, only about one million miles. This contrasts sharply with planets in our own Solar System, such as Jupiter, which orbits much farther from the Sun. Earth’s distance from the Sun is about 100 million miles. Gravitational forces from the much heavier pulsar stretch the planet pulling it so much that it resembles a lemon, rather than a near-spherical shape typical of most planets. Webb’s ability to observe the planet without interference from the pulsar’s intense gamma radiation has been key to studying its distinct environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>An Atmosphere That Defies Expectation</h2> The composition of this exoplanet’s atmosphere challenges current understanding. Unlike many exoplanets, PSR J2322-2650b’s outer layers are dominated by helium and carbon, with little to no oxygen or nitrogen detected. This unusual mix means that common molecules like water, methane or carbon dioxide, typically expected in planetary atmospheres, are absent. Webb’s data suggest soot clouds likely float through the air, and deep within the planet, these carbon clouds can condense and form diamonds.&nbsp;&nbsp;“The planet orbits a star that's completely bizarre — the mass of the Sun, but the size of a city,” according to the principal investigator on this study, Michael Zhang. Standard planetary formation theories do not predict a world with such chemistry in this environment, particularly around a pulsar, a host rarely observed with planets at all. Together, the star and exoplanet may be considered a “black widow” system, though not a typical example. In such scenarios, a pulsar strips material from a companion star, but even this model does not fully explain the observed composition and structure. But in this case, the companion is officially considered an exoplanet, not a star. The discovery highlights how Webb’s capabilities are revealing planetary phenomena that were previously invisible, prompting a reevaluation of how diverse planetary systems can be. Of the 6,000 known exoplanets, this is the only one reminiscent of a gas giant (with mass, radius, and temperature similar to a hot Jupiter) orbiting a pulsar.

Scientists describe the findings as unexpected and puzzling, making this discovery a milestone in exoplanet research. 

The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an exoplanet unlike any previously studied, opening fresh questions about how worlds form and what their atmospheres can contain. Officially named as PSR J2322-2650b, this distant world orbits a pulsar , a rapidly spinning neutron star left over after a massive star’s supernova. Scientists using the James Webb observed through it's infrared instruments that this Jupiter-mass planet is stretched into a lemon-like shape by extreme gravitational forces and has an atmospheric composition that defies existing models. Scientists describe the findings as unexpected and puzzling, making this discovery a milestone in exoplanet research. The paper appeared on Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. A Planet Around an Unusual Host According to Live Science, PSR J2322-2650b is located some 750 light-years from Earth and completes a full orbit around its star in just 7.8 hours because it lies extremely close to it, only about one million miles. This contrasts sharply with planets in our own Solar System, such as Jupiter, which orbits much farther from the Sun. Earth’s distance from the Sun is about 100 million miles. Gravitational forces from the much heavier pulsar stretch the planet pulling it so much that it resembles a lemon, rather than a near-spherical shape typical of most planets. Webb’s ability to observe the planet without interference from the pulsar’s intense gamma radiation has been key to studying its distinct environment. An Atmosphere That Defies Expectation The composition of this exoplanet’s atmosphere challenges current understanding. Unlike many exoplanets, PSR J2322-2650b’s outer layers are dominated by helium and carbon, with little to no oxygen or nitrogen detected. This unusual mix means that common molecules like water, methane or carbon dioxide, typically expected in planetary atmospheres, are absent. Webb’s data suggest soot clouds likely float through the air, and deep within the planet, these carbon clouds can condense and form diamonds. “The planet orbits a star that's completely bizarre — the mass of the Sun, but the size of a city,” according to the principal investigator on this study, Michael Zhang. Standard planetary formation theories do not predict a world with such chemistry in this environment, particularly around a pulsar, a host rarely observed with planets at all. Together, the star and exoplanet may be considered a “black widow” system, though not a typical example. In such scenarios, a pulsar strips material from a companion star, but even this model does not fully explain the observed composition and structure. But in this case, the companion is officially considered an exoplanet, not a star. The discovery highlights how Webb’s capabilities are revealing planetary phenomena that were previously invisible, prompting a reevaluation of how diverse planetary systems can be. Of the 6,000 known exoplanets, this is the only one reminiscent of a gas giant (with mass, radius, and temperature similar to a hot Jupiter) orbiting a pulsar.

Scientists describe the findings as unexpected and puzzling, making this discovery a milestone in exoplanet research.&nbsp;

NASA'S James Webb telescope observes a bizarre lemon-shaped exoplanet with unexplained atmosphere

An international team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected a supernova that exploded when the universe was only about 730 million years old, placing it deep in the era of reionization according to Phys.org. It also provided the most distant direct evidence yet of a stellar explosion from the early cosmos. This was the period when the first stars and galaxies were forming and transforming the newborn universe. The event was associated with a bright burst of gamma-ray labelled GRB 250314A.&nbsp;Webb’s sensitive infrared observations helped in detecting and distinguishing the fading light of the explosion from its faint host galaxy.&nbsp;<h2>&nbsp;</h2>

NIRCam Image

&nbsp;<h2>How the explosion was found</h2> The supernova was initially flagged in March 2025 by a gamma-ray burst detected by the space-based Variable Objects Monitor. Gamma-ray bursts are explained as, intense flashes of high-energy radiation often linked to catastrophic events such as the collapse of massive stars. Follow-up observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO/VLT) in Chile, confirmed the extreme distance implied by the signal. Details of the discovery are described in a study recently published in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics. Roughly 110 days after the initial burst, JWST captured near-infrared images using its NIRCam instrument, thus enabling scientists to isolate the light from the supernova itself and study its properties despite the enormous cosmic distance.&nbsp;<h2>Significance of the discovery</h2> This supernova is not just the most distant ever directly observed but also closely resembles certain similar explosions seen in the nearby universe, such as the well-studied GRB-associated supernova, SN 1998bw. Analysis indicates that the massive star which exploded in the early universe had spectral and brightness characteristics comparable to those of long-duration gamma-ray burst-associated supernovae seen much closer to Earth today. The findings challenge the assumptions that the early stars, formed under environments with extremely low metallicity conditions, would behave very differently from their modern counterparts.&nbsp;The research team, according to phys.org, plans to secure a second epoch of JWST observations in the next one to two years. By that time, the light of the supernova is expected to have faded significantly, thus, allowing the team of astronomer to completely characterise the properties of the faint host galaxy thus, confirming the contribution of the supernova.

Webb’s sensitive infrared observations helped in detecting and distinguishing the fading light of the explosion from its faint host galaxy.

An international team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected a supernova that exploded when the universe was only about 730 million years old, placing it deep in the era of reionization according to Phys.org. It also provided the most distant direct evidence yet of a stellar explosion from the early cosmos. This was the period when the first stars and galaxies were forming and transforming the newborn universe. The event was associated with a bright burst of gamma-ray labelled GRB 250314A. Webb’s sensitive infrared observations helped in detecting and distinguishing the fading light of the explosion from its faint host galaxy.

Webb’s sensitive infrared observations helped in detecting and distinguishing the fading light of the explosion from its faint host galaxy.

NASA’s James Webb telescope captured supernova from the dawn of universe

This extraordinary find pushes the limits of how far back in cosmic history human instruments can look, offering a direct glimpse into the earliest stages of galaxy formation.

'13.4 billion light years away': Did you know the most distant galaxy discovered?

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NASA'S James Webb telescope observes a bizarre lemon-shaped exoplanet with unexplained atmosphere

NASA’s James Webb telescope captured supernova from the dawn of universe

Did you know the most distant galaxy discovered?