CE Antliae (also called TWA 7) is a young low-mass star in the constellation of Antlia. It is surrounded by a debris disk and has one directly imaged planet candidate.
TWA 7 was discovered in 1999 with a spectral type of Red dwarf and as a member of the TW Hydrae association. The detection of molecular hydrogen is interpreted as a weak sign of accretion of gas near the star. A giant X-ray astronomy flare was detected on 2010-09-07 with MAXI/GSC on the ISS.
In 2025 JWST MIRI observations showed a point source that could be a young sub-Jovian planet with a mass of 0.3 (about 100 ) and a temperature of around . The candidate can explain the main ring of the debris disk. It also does not fit the spectrum of a background star. It could be consistent with an intermediate-redshift star-forming galaxy, but the probability of such a galaxy appearing that close to TWA 7 is estimated to be 0.34%. If confirmed as a planet, it would be the least massive directly imaged exoplanet. The candidate is located in an underdensity in ring 2 that was noticed before. Opposite to the planet candidate is another underdensity region, which could be created by orbital resonance. The mass of the candidate was previously predicted to be 2 Neptune masses (about 34 ) before it was detected.
This candidate planet was independently detected by observations taken with the NIRCam instrument aboard JWST. The observations strongly support a planetary nature for this object, finding a background galaxy to be unlikely. The planet's mass could be similar to Neptune's. A second point-like source was also detected, but it needs follow-up observations to determine its nature.
See also
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