Worlds Next Door: A Candidate Giant Planet Imaged in the Habitable Zone of $\alpha$ Cen A. II. Binary Star Modeling, Planet and Exozodi Search, and Sensitivity Analysis

TL;DR

This study demonstrates JWST's capability to image exoplanets and dust around Alpha Centauri A, achieving unprecedented sensitivity to exozodiacal disks and detecting a candidate planet that requires further confirmation.

Contribution

First application of reference star differential imaging with JWST to search for exoplanets and dust in a binary star system, with deep sensitivity and candidate detection.

Findings

Achieved 5σ contrast sensitivity of 10^{-5} to 10^{-4} at >1" separation.

Detected a candidate point source, S1, at 1.5" separation, with S/N 4-6.

Set the deepest limits to exozodiacal dust detection around Alpha Centauri A.

Abstract

JWST observed our closest solar twin, $\alpha$ Cen A, with the MIRI coronagraph in F1550C (15.5 $\mu$m) at three distinct epochs between August 2024 and April 2025. For the first time with JWST, we demonstrate the application of reference star differential imaging to simultaneously subtract the coronagraphic image of a primary star and the point spread function (PSF) of its binary companion to conduct a deep search for exoplanets and dust emission. We achieve a typical 5$\sigma$ point source contrast sensitivity between $\sim$$10^{-5}$-$10^{-4}$ at separations $\gtrsim$ 1" and an exozodiacal disk (coplanar with $\alpha$ Cen AB) sensitivity of $\sim$5-8$\times$ the Solar System's zodiacal cloud around $\alpha$ Cen A. The latter is an extraordinary limit, representing the deepest sensitivity to exozodiacal disks achieved for any stellar system to date. Post-processing with the PCA-KLIP algorithm reveals a point source, called $S1$, in August 2024, detected at S/N $=$ 4-6 (3.3-4.3$\sigma$), a separation of $\approx$1.5" (2 au), and with a F1550C flux (contrast) of $\approx$3.5 mJy ($\approx 5.5 \times 10^{-5}$). Various tests conducted with the data show that $S1$ is unlikely to be a detector or PSF subtraction artifact and confirm that it is neither a background nor a foreground object. $S1$ is not re-detected in the two follow-up observations (February and April 2025). If $S1$ is astrophysical in nature, the only explanation is that it has moved to a region of poor sensitivity due to orbital motion. We perform PSF injection-recovery tests and provide 2D sensitivity maps for each epoch to enable orbital completeness calculations. Additional observations are necessary to re-detect candidate $S1$ and confirm its nature as a planet orbiting our nearest solar-type neighbor.