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Astronomers use infrared data to find faint, cool objects that are difficult to see in visible light—but an infrared source is not automatically a planet. In wide-field surveys such as WISE, researchers compare images taken at different times to flag moving sources, then investigate whether each is a brown dwarf, a solar-system object, an image artifact, or something else. Direct imaging is a different method: it separates a planet’s own light from the glare of a star.
Two different ways infrared data can reveal planets
“Searching for planets in infrared images” can describe two distinct techniques. One looks for a planet beside a known star; the other searches wide areas of sky for faint or moving sources. Both use infrared light, but they detect different signals and face different obstacles.
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| Method | What is detected | Main obstacle | Typical targets and confirmation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct imaging | A spatially resolved companion’s own light near its host star | The star is much brighter than the planet; coronagraphs block much of the glare | Mostly young, warm giant planets; astronomers characterize the resolved source and test its relationship to the star. NASA explains direct imaging. |
| Wide-field survey search | Infrared sources whose brightness, position, or motion across survey images merits investigation | Artifacts, blended sources, and uncertainty about whether a source is a brown dwarf, solar-system object, or another class | Often faint, cool nearby objects; researchers inspect repeated observations and obtain follow-up measurements. NASA describes the Backyard Worlds search. |
NASA’s example of a direct image of HIP 65426 b combines JWST observations at 3.00 and 4.44 micrometers from NIRCam with 11.4 and 15.5 micrometer observations from MIRI. A coronagraph suppresses the host star’s light so the much fainter companion can be seen. So far, directly imaged planets have mainly been young giant planets warm enough to glow from their formation.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhy infrared surveys help find faint, cool objects
Cool objects can emit a larger share of their detectable light in infrared than in visible wavelengths. NASA notes that low-temperature brown dwarfs may be faint in visible light while still emitting infrared radiation. That makes infrared surveys useful for finding objects that a visible-light search could miss, but it also makes classification important: brown dwarfs can resemble planets in some respects.
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WISE mapped the entire sky in four infrared bands: 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 micrometers. Its archive includes observations from the original WISE mission and the later NEOWISE mission. NASA’s unWISE catalog describes positions and fluxes for roughly two billion WISE objects; its images coadd publicly available 3–5 micrometer observations, including NEOWISE-Reactivation data, and provide five times the total exposure time of AllWISE. Those are catalog and exposure figures—not counts of planets. NASA’s WISE mission page and the NASA Open Data Portal’s unWISE catalog description provide details.
A separate scale figure needs the same care: NASA reported in 2024 that NEOWISE’s all-sky maps contained 1.45 million infrared measurements of more than 44,000 solar-system objects. Those measurements concern solar-system targets, not exoplanets or exoplanet candidates. NASA’s 2024 announcement gives the figure.
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How astronomers screen survey images for candidates
1. Choose the right survey products and epochs
Researchers begin with images or catalog entries suited to the question, checking the wavelength range and when observations were taken. Repeated sky coverage makes it possible to compare a source’s position and brightness over time. Coadded products can increase depth, but a combined image is not a substitute for understanding the individual observations and their timing.
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For a possible nearby object, researchers compare images separated in time and ask whether its position shifts consistently against background stars and galaxies. NASA’s Backyard Worlds project uses short movies made from WISE imagery so volunteers can flag possible movers for professional follow-up. As astrophysicist Marc Kuchner, the project’s principal investigator, put it: “Because there’s so little sunlight, even large objects in that region barely shine in visible light. But by looking in the infrared, WISE may have imaged objects we otherwise would have missed.” NASA’s project announcement describes the search.
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3. Check whether the apparent source is real
A dot that appears in an image—or a change in brightness—may be caused by instrumental effects, a crowded field, or imperfect image modeling rather than an astronomical object. NASA notes that WISE images can show brightness spikes around stars and blurry blobs caused by light scattered within the instruments. Visual review can help recognize such patterns, but a flagged point remains a candidate, not a confirmed object.
4. Follow up and determine what the object is
Additional observations can test whether the position and motion persist and can help establish distance, spectrum, and other properties relevant to the hypothesis. The follow-up depends on the claim: for a direct image, astronomers characterize the resolved source and its association with the host star; for a survey source, they need evidence that distinguishes among possible object classes. NASA emphasizes that candidates can be false positives and require additional observations before they are established as planets. NASA’s overview of exoplanet detection methods explains the distinction between candidates and confirmed planets.
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How can astronomers tell a planet from a brown dwarf?
Infrared brightness or apparent motion alone does not settle the classification. A moving point might be a nearby brown dwarf, a solar-system body, or an artifact; an isolated object with planet-like properties is not thereby an exoplanet orbiting a star. Astronomers need follow-up evidence appropriate to the object and the claim, including observations that establish its properties and, where relevant, its relationship to a host star.
WISE 0855−0714 illustrates why the distinction matters. After its discovery in WISE data, some researchers questioned whether it might be a rogue exoplanet. Later brown-dwarf discoveries supplied broader population context, but that historical question should not be treated as a settled classification of the object as an exoplanet. NASA’s exoplanet resources offer background on the different kinds of worlds astronomers study.
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What WISE data can—and cannot—show today
WISE launched in 2009 and completed its original all-sky survey before the spacecraft was reactivated as NEOWISE. NASA says the NEOWISE science survey ended on July 31, 2024, and the spacecraft was decommissioned on August 8, 2024. WISE/NEOWISE is therefore an archival resource, not a telescope currently collecting survey observations; its archived data remain available for analysis. NASA’s WISE mission page and NASA’s announcement of the mission’s conclusion document its status.
In practice, survey searches can identify interesting sources and help direct follow-up, but they do not turn every infrared point into a planet. A defensible result depends on the survey’s wavelength and epoch coverage, careful rejection of artifacts, and observations that establish what the source is and whether it orbits a star.
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