CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A super Jupiter has been spotted around a neighboring star by the Webb Space Telescope — and it has a super orbit.
The planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass. Its atmosphere is also rich in hydrogen like Jupiter’s.
One big difference: It takes this planet more than a century, possibly as long as 250 years, to go around its star. It’s 15 times the distance from its star than Earth is to the sun.
Scientists had long suspected a big planet circled this star 12 light-years away, but not this massive or far from its star. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles. These new observations show the planet orbits the star Epsilon Indi A, part of a three-star system.
An international team led by Max Planck Institute for Astronomy’s Elisabeth Matthews in Germany collected the images last year and published the findings Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Astronomers directly observed the incredibly old and cold gas giant — a rare and tricky feat — by masking the star through use of a special shading device on Webb. By blocking the starlight, the planet stood out as a pinpoint of infrared light.
The planet and star clock in at 3.5 billion years old, 1 billion years younger than our own solar system, but still considered old and brighter than expected, according to Matthews.
The star is so close and bright to our own solar system that it’s visible with the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere.
Don’t bet on life, though.
“This is a gas giant with no hard surface or liquid water oceans,” Matthews said in an email.
It’s unlikely this solar system sports more gas giants, she said, but small rocky worlds could be lurking there.
Worlds similar to Jupiter can help scientists understand “how these planets evolve over giga-year timescales,” she said.
The first planets outside our solar system — dubbed exoplanets — were confirmed in the early 1990s. NASA’s tally now stands at 5,690 as of mid-July. The vast majority were detected via the transit method, in which a fleeting dip in starlight, repeated at regular intervals, indicates an orbiting planet.
Telescopes in space and also on the ground are on the hunt for even more, especially planets that might be similar to Earth.
Launched in 2021, NASA and the European Space Agency’s Webb telescope is the biggest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever placed in space.
NASA telescope spots a super Jupiter that takes more than a century to go around its star
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NASA telescope spots a super Jupiter that takes more than a century to go around its star

- The planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass
- One big difference: It takes this planet more than a century, possibly as long as 250 years, to go around its star
Indian police shut down Ed Sheeran’s street gig

- British singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner is touring the world’s most populous country
- Sheeran denied he had broken the law, saying he had been granted permission to busk ‘in that exact spot’
BENGALURU, India: Pop megastar Ed Sheeran has denied that he unlawfully serenaded the Indian public after police said he lacked the necessary permission to play and abruptly terminated a street performance.
The British singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner is touring the world’s most populous country but took time out between concerts to busk to a surprised crowd in tech hub Bengaluru on Sunday.
Videos shared on social media show a police officer disconnecting his microphone midway through a rendition of his hit “Shape of You” on Church Street, a bustling retail hub.
Local authorities said that while Sheeran had a permit to play at concerts, that did not extend to impromptu outdoor performances.
“He is a very famous singer and naturally there will be chaos. To prevent that, police had not given him permission,” Karnataka’s home minister G. Parameshwara said on Monday.
“In spite of that, he has come and tried to perform, so police prevented him. Nothing beyond that.”
A police officer pulled the plug when Ed Sheeran surprised everyone on Church Street pic.twitter.com/cMIRoLC7Mk
— Naai sekar (@snehaplsstop) February 9, 2025
Sheeran denied he had broken the law, saying he had been granted permission to busk “in that exact spot.”
“It wasn’t just us randomly turning up,” he wrote on Instagram shortly after the incident, adding magnanimously that it was “all good though.”
Local lawmaker PC Mohan said on Sunday that “even global stars must follow local rules — no permit, no performance!”
Social media users were critical of the police yanking out Sheeran’s microphone cables, with one calling it “abysmal and embarrassing.”
Another criticized Indian police for failing to effectively prosecute crimes against women, but Sheeran “singing on the street is where they draw the line.”
Sheeran is currently on a six-city tour of India and also had a sold-out performance in Mumbai last year.
Booming demand from young affluent Indians looking to splurge on new entertainment experiences are drawing international acts to play in the country.
British rock band Coldplay performed what it called its “biggest-ever show” at a massive cricket stadium in the western city of Ahmedabad in January.
Super Bowl halftime performer detained after unfurling Sudanese-Palestinian flag

- The NFL confirmed the person was part of the 400-member field cast
- The performer stood on a car used as a prop for Lamar’s performance and held up the flag
NEW ORLEANS: A performer in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was detained on the field and could face charges after unfurling a combination Sudanese-Palestinian flag with “Sudan” and “Gaza” written on it.
The NFL confirmed the person was part of the 400-member field cast. The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that “law enforcement is working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”
“The individual will (be) banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in an emailed statement.
The performer stood on a car used as a prop for Lamar’s performance and held up the flag. The NFL said “the individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show” and that “no one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”
Roc Nation, the entertainment company which produced the show, said that the act “was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”
The show continued without interruption, and it did not seem as though the person was shown on the broadcast of Lamar’s performance.
Afghan wedding halls light up somber Kabul nights

KABUL: As night settles over Afghanistan’s capital, only a few small lights and neon signs pierce the darkness and thick blanket of winter pollution.
But on some street corners, glittering colossal wedding halls loom out of the gloom, a rare display of opulence in the Afghan capital.
The city of more than six million people is often plunged into shadow due to ubiquitous power outages, which only the wealthiest can remedy with expensive generators or solar panels.
Apart from a few vendors, the streets are deserted, a stark contrast with the chaotic hustle of the daytime.
People huddle at home to shelter from the cold and for lack of nighttime activities.
Since the Taliban took power in 2021 and imposed their strict version of Islamic law, a veil of sadness has enveloped the capital.
There is no music spilling out from restaurants because it is forbidden, women are banned from parks, and walls decorated with colorful pro-peace graffiti have been splashed with calls to holy war.
The only bright lights emanate from the wedding halls that dot the city center and escape some of the Taliban’s scrutiny, as marriage is prized in Afghan culture.
The high-ceilinged halls are segregated by gender, with music only tolerated on the women’s side.
“In Afghanistan, the marriage ceremony is the most important event for girls and boys. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event — we don’t have much divorce,” said Mohammad Wassil Qaumi, director of the Imperial Continental, a palatial white-and-gold hall that shines with a glitz reminiscent of a Las Vegas casino.
“It’s the start of a new life so the light should be everywhere, that’s why the city is bright, it should have a little bit of luxury!” he told AFP.
DECORATIONS
Bunches of plastic flowers, throne-style sofas, gilded trimming and neon lights fill the complex’s four halls, some of which can accommodate up to 7,000 guests.
Qaumi, 32, says he spends $25,000 to $30,000 per month for municipal electricity, which provides a few hours of power per day.
To keep the lights on, he also pays just under $15,000 for generators.
To recoup his costs, he charges up to $20,000 for a wedding, in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
“Weddings are a necessity in the Afghan culture, you have to invite more and more people” even if it means going into debt, said Hajji Safiullah Esmafi, owner of the Stars Palace hall.
In another district of the capital, the City Star welcomes its guests with a beige and gold facade topped with three sculpted domes and a huge sparkling arch out front.
“Electricity is very expensive,” admits the owner, 24-year-old Siyer Paiman.
But, he added, “people in Afghanistan like bright colors.”
ELECTRICITY
He has invested in solar panels and spends the equivalent of $12,000 to $19,900 on generators and electricity, which only covers six to seven hours a day, “and not always at night.”
Afghanistan depends on its Central Asian neighbors for imported electricity.
With the hopes of increasing supply, the country is involved in several regional interconnection projects, but progress is slow.
“The current demand in Afghanistan is about 7,000 to 8,000 megawatts but they currently produce locally about 1,000 megawatts and import the rest from Central Asia,” a sector expert who asked for anonymity told AFP, adding that renewable energy sources should be developed but that funding was lacking.
Power cuts also affect heating, with temperatures easily dropping below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).
Kabul’s residents use stoves, burning almost anything from coal and wood to plastic or household waste, creating a fog of pollution in the city slung between mountains 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) above sea level.
In the nighttime gloom, wedding halls are “the brightness of the city,” said Qaumi. “Here, everyone is very happy.”
“People come here to meet friends and family, (they) wear new clothes, jewelry... showing off so much,” he said of patrons enjoying one of the only places left in Kabul where this is still possible.
‘Anora’ wins top Hollywood producer and director prizes

- “Anora” was named the best film of the year by Hollywood’s directors and producers on Saturday, cementing its new status as the film to beat at the upcoming Oscars
LOS ANGELES: “Anora” was named the best film of the year by Hollywood’s directors and producers on Saturday, cementing its new status as the film to beat at the upcoming Oscars.
The black comedy from director Sean Baker, about an erotic dancer’s whirlwind romance gone wrong, picked up the prestigious Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America top awards, just a day after capturing the foremost US critics’ prize.
“My imposter syndrome is skyrocketing right now!” said Baker, a 53-year-old indie director, previously best known in arthouse circles for his empathetic portrayals of life in US subcultures, as he accepted his prize at a swanky Beverly Hills DGA gala.
Baker thanked his producers for being “able to pull off a $6 million film, shot on film, in New York City in 2023 — almost impossible.”
“Anora” won the Cannes film festival top prize Palme d’Or back in May, yet had more recently lagged behind other films including “Emilia Perez” in terms of Oscar nominations.
Besides Saturday’s coup, “Anora” also won best picture at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, propelling it as a renewed favorite for the Academy Awards — which will take place on March 2.
Accepting his prize from Christoper Nolan, last year’s DGA winner, Baker joked that campaigning for Hollywood’s seemingly never-ending awards season had made him feel like he was “actually doing work” for “the first time.”
“I’ve been able to play — and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, being able to do the thing I’ve wanted to do since I was five years old,” said Baker.
He also thanked his mother for supporting his career — but the director, whose films mainly center around sex work and pornography, admitted he was glad she had not seen his latest, somewhat graphic project.
Nineteen of the past 21 DGA winners have gone on to also win the Oscar for best director that same year, including the last two winners — “Oppenheimer” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
The DGA prize for best movie from a first-time filmmaker went to another Oscar best picture nominee, “Nickel Boys,” from RaMell Ross.
Ross, whose film about abuses at a 1960s Florida reform school for juvenile boys — shot as if from the eyes of its characters — said it was too “rare” to see the Black gaze represented in Hollywood cinema.
Meanwhile across town in Los Angeles Saturday, “Anora” also won the PGA top prize.
Ferrari’s 1965 Le Mans-winning car sold for 35 million euros

- Ferrari said that the eye-watering sum is the highest paid for the 250 LM model
- Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt drove the car
ROME: The Ferrari which won the 1965 edition of the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race was sold for 34.9 million euros ($36.2 million) at a Paris auction, the Italian manufacturer said Thursday.
Ferrari said that the eye-watering sum is the highest paid for the 250 LM model, with this specific car winning Ferrari’s sixth consecutive title on the “Circuit de la Sarthe” in western France and their last until 2023.
Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt drove the car, which had been on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1970 before being offered for sale by Sotheby’s, for the North American Racing Team (NART).
Ferrari gave no details as to the identity of the buyer of the 250 LM model, of which only 32 were made.
The record for the sale of a Ferrari was a 330 LM/250 GTO from 1962 which went under the hammer in New York for $51.7 million in November 2023.