This Newly Discovered World Is The Closest Directly Imaged Exoplanet Ever Exoplanets are tricksy little beasts. As they are very small, very dim, and very far away, seeing them directly is extremely challenging and rare. As such, we usually infer their presence from their effects on their host stars – which means that when we do, on the odd occasion, see one directly, it's a cause for excitement.
And excitement is exactly what you should be feeling with the discovery of an exoplanet called COCONUTS-2b, orbiting a star called COCONUTS-2. Not only is COCONUTS-2b (named for the COol Companions ON Ultrawide orbiTS survey) the closest directly imaged exoplanet to Earth to date – at a distance of just 35 light-years – it's a rarity among exoplanet discoveries: a relatively cool, massive gas giant, orbiting its star at a great distance.