Epsilon Indi AB, the cold giant imagined by Star Trek

Among the many observation modes provided by the James Webb Space Telescope, the one called “MIRI with chronograph” allows the detection of planets in the mid-infrared that would otherwise be obscured by the light of their own star.
This is the case of Epsilon Indi AB, a gas giant six times the size of Jupiter, with an average temperature of just above zero degrees Celsius, making it the coldest planet ever observed outside the Solar System.
The study, led by Elisabeth Matthews of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg (Germany) and published in Nature, has succeeded in capturing an image of Epsilon Indi AB during its impressive 200-year orbit around its reference star.
For decades, astronomers have imagined planets in this system, cold but still over a hundred degrees warmer than Jupiter and Saturn, making them very useful for comparative studies. Science fiction enthusiasts are also watching the discovery with interest: the imaginary planets orbiting Epsilon Indi have been the subject of Star Trek episodes, novels and video games such as Halo.