James Webb finds water near an asteroid – and new mystery

The James Webb Telescope has been in space for a year and a half and is still providing a constant stream of spectacular images and scientific breakthroughs. Now it was that time again, because you could discover water vapor on a comet.

Water, of course, has a special meaning, especially when it can be discovered outside of the earth. Because this molecule is the basic requirement for life and if you discover it somewhere else, then the probability increases that we are not alone in the universe.

As the NASA writes in a statement, astronomers using Webb’s NIRSpec (near-infrared spectrograph) instrument have detected corresponding gas — water vapor, to be exact — around a comet in the main asteroid belt for the first time. According to the scientists, this indicates that water ice from the original solar system may have been preserved in this region.
Infographic Hubble successor: The James Webb Space Telescope in detail

Where’s the carbon dioxide?

But this scientific breakthrough does not come without question marks: In contrast to other comets, no carbon dioxide was detectable on the one with the name 238P aka “Read”. Because CO₂ usually makes up ten percent of the material vaporized by comets – but nothing was discovered in the present case. Scientists suspect that the carbon dioxide either evaporated over billions of years, or that the comet formed in a comparatively mild part of the solar system where there was no CO₂.

NASA explains that Read is a so-called main belt comet. This is an object located in the main asteroid belt but periodically exhibiting a halo or coma and tailing like a comet. Main belt comets are a relatively new classification, with Read being one of the first three comets used for it.

“In the past we’ve seen objects in the main belt that have all the hallmarks of comets, but it’s only with this precise spectral data from Webb that we can say yes, it’s definitely water ice that’s producing this effect,” said Michael Kelley, lead author of the related study. “With the Webb observations of comet Read, we can now demonstrate that water ice from the early solar system may be contained in the asteroid belt.”

See also:

Space, Astronautics, Nasa, Satellite, Solar, Telescope, Solar Cell, Solar Panel, James Webb, Solar Panel, James Webb Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, Mirror