New technique strips starlight from JWST data to reveal hidden exoplanets
FLIP method achieves sensitivity up to 15 times greater than standard approaches, researchers say
Researchers have developed a computational technique that removes the glare of stars from images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, making it possible to detect exoplanets that were previously hidden in the data. The method, called Physics-based Learning for Imaging Planets (FLIP), builds a digital twin of the telescope's Near Infrared Camera and uses machine-learning optimisation to model and subtract starlight, achieving sensitivity two to 15 times better than standard methods, according to a study published in Nature on November 4.