http://jwst.nasa.gov/faq_solarsystem.html#angularresolution http://jwst.nasa.gov/faq_solarsystem.html#angularresolution says: > The specification is that the t

http://jwst.nasa.gov/faq_solarsystem.html#angularresolution http://jwst.nasa.gov/faq_solarsystem.html#angularresolution says: > The specification is that the telescope is diffraction limited at 2 μm, which means a Strehl ratio of 0.8 and a wavefront error of 150 nm rms. With a 6.5 m telescope, 1.22 λ/D = 0.077 arcsec at 2 μm. The smallest pixels (NIRCam 0.6-2.5 μm) are just 0.034 arcsec. But a lot of the wavefront error is due to imperfect alignment of the parts, and it's possible to do better for a small part of the field of view. A telescope can still detect something smaller than its resolution. We can see stars with our eyes, after all. Even astronauts in space, where there is no atmosphere to move the light around. Here are some of the best attempts at direct imaging with a telescope: http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/direct-imaging.html http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/dir... The problem is the planet is dim and close to a bright star. If this planet is 1 AU out, then there's a 0.77 arcsec between it and the the star, which would make it easier to distinguish the two.