A New Way to See a Distant Planet

Adapted by News by Levels November 5, 2026

A computer method helped scientists see a planet in old telescope data.

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Science news editorial illustration for New Method Reveals Planet Hidden in Webb Telescope Data

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have a to a in from the . The is 51 b. it.

The a . The is so that its the . The a to of that from the .

The in an an had it. The the will them , but more is .

Source: Nature Portfolio, 2026-11-05.

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Read and understand · 1/3What did scientists already know before using the new method? The planet 51 Eridani b existed. The new method would work on every planet. The date of the next Webb observation was fixed.

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The planet 51 Eridani b existed.. The opening paragraph says scientists already knew about the planet.

Clue: Scientists have found a new way to see a faraway planet in data from the James Webb Space Telescope. The planet is called 51 Eridani b. Scientists already knew about it.

Read and understand · 2/3Why can the planet be hard to see? The planet moves quickly around its star. A cloud lies between the planet and Earth. The star’s bright light can hide it.

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The star’s bright light can hide it.. The second paragraph says the star is so bright that its light can hide the planet.

Clue: The planet goes around a star. The star is so bright that its light can hide the planet. The team used a computer to remove some of that light from the picture.

Read and understand · 3/3What happened when the team used the method? The team took a new picture with another telescope. The planet appeared in an image where an earlier method had missed it. The team proved the method worked on every planet.

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The planet appeared in an image where an earlier method had missed it.. The final paragraph says the planet appeared where an earlier method missed it.

Clue: The planet then appeared in an image where an earlier method had missed it. The researchers hope the method will help them study other planets, but more testing is needed.

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Explain why the planet was hard to see and what the team did to help reveal it.

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The bright star could hide the planet. The team used a computer to remove some of the star’s light from the picture.

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A New Way to See a Distant Planet

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