The James Webb Space Telescope just zoomed in on the atmosphere of a planet discovered in 2020 — and now we have the clearest data ever about an exoplanet.

The awkwardly named Planet TOI-421b’s exoplanet status means that it doesn’t orbit our sun. (Exoplanets are defined as any planet beyond our solar system.)

Don’t expect to travel there any time soon. It’s 244 light-years away from the Earth — for comparison, the dwarf planet Pluto is only five and a half light-hours from us. The planet orbits a star that is similar to our sun. It is considered a sub-Neptune planet because it’s larger than Earth, but smaller than Neptune, which is four times larger than Earth.

The planet was discovered through astronomical transit, which means astronomers noticed that a star dimmed as TOI-421b passed it in orbit. This isn’t a heavenly body that a hobbyist can spot, but the best cameras out there can get you started with astrophotography.

The exoplanet was mapped by a team of astronomers from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, who worked together to analyze the planet’s atmosphere using a form of study called spectroscopy. By parsing out light frequencies in a planet’s atmosphere, scientists can figure out what elements are present — and which ones are missing.

TOI-421b’s atmosphere is rich in hydrogen and contains signs of water vapor. But it doesn’t contain signs of methane, which leads to hazy atmospheric conditions.

Most sub-Neptune exoplanets have atmospheres shrouded in haze, which makes them difficult to image. TOI-421b was chosen for the project because the initial analysis led scientists to believe that the planet could be accurately and clearly pictured through spectroscopic imaging.

Is this planet a ‘unique snowflake’?

The team of astronomers published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, where all of the key data for the project is collected in one paper. You can read the full write-up here.

The spectroscopic images of TOI-421b are accessible in the results section of the paper, and they paint a picture of many of the exoplanet’s strange and exciting properties.

Other sub-Neptune worlds had atmospheres filled with heavy gases that indicated they were potentially mostly composed of water, but TOI-421b is composed of lightweight gases — much like the star it orbits.

This has raised questions about how different types of stars could potentially affect the atmospheres of their orbiting planets. In a statement to Mashable, Eliza Kempton, the lead investigator on the study, said it was something the astronomers would need to further explore.

«We can see if this planet just turned out to be kind of a unique snowflake, or is it emblematic of a class of planets that all have similar properties,» she said.

A group of app developers have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple on the heels of a court ruling against the company for violating a 2021 injunction involving mobile purchases. 

The class action, filed on May 2, alleges that despite the injunction, Apple continued to block app developers from pointing users to in-app purchases and subscriptions outside of the company’s own ecosystem, so that it wouldn’t lose out on the 30% fee it charges to developers.

The class action is a latest turn in a legal saga that primarily pitted Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite, against the world’s largest tech company. A concurrent battle has been going on between Epic and Samsung and Google over access to app storefronts. 

The law firm Hagens Berman filed the suit and named as its primary plaintiff Pure Sweat Basketball, Inc, which has a free app for improving basketball skills. The suit says Apple prevented the company from linking to a subscription page from its mobile app. 

«As a result of Apple’s misconduct, attorneys estimate that potentially more than 100,000 similarly situated app developers were prevented from selling in-app products (including subscriptions) directly to their customers, and were forced to pay Apple commissions on in-app sales that Apple was not entitled to receive,» Hagens Berman said in a post about the suit. 

 A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   

Rockstar Games surprised everyone on Tuesday by dropping a new trailer for the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, and the company is expected to launch the game on May 26, 2026. 

Rockstar also shed some more light on the upcoming game’s story.

«Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them,» the company wrote online. «But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.»

From the trailer, we see Jason driving around Vice City before picking up Lucia after she’s released from jail. Then things take a turn as we see the two lovebirds holding people hostage, people loading cargo onto a plane at night and a meeting with what I’m guessing are some crooked cops. 

Honestly, there’s so much more happening in this trailer. There are explosions, a fight on an airplane and an airboat chase through the swamp. And it’s all set to the song Hot Together by the magnificent Pointer Sisters, making the trailer feel that much more fun.

The trailer lands a few days after Rockstar announced it was pushing the game’s launch date back to 2026 after the company aimed for a 2025 release. 

While I’m a little annoyed the game’s release got pushed back, the latest trailer does looks excellent, and I’m more than happy to give Rockstar a little more time to finish the game. I want a great gaming experience, and I’d rather wait a little longer than play something that isn’t as good as it could be. And if there’s one thing Rockstar knows how to do, it’s make solid games. 

For more gaming news, here’s what to know about higher Xbox consoles prices, the latest games included in PlayStation Plus and when Gears of War lands on the PlayStation 5.