NASA’s Webb Finds Water, and a New Mystery

The James Webb Space Telescope’s latest discovery is a tale of two detections. Solar system scientists took NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope on a

The James Webb Space Telescope’s latest discovery is a tale of two detections.

Solar system scientists took NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope on a treasure hunt in the asteroid belt, and what they didn’t find turned out to be as significant as what they did, reported NASA.

If a spectrum of possible chemical compounds serves as a map of what to look for, X marked the spot of water vapor on Comet Read, a long-sought clue in the larger mystery of how Earth’s liquid water, and consequently life, first came to be.

However, carbon dioxide was missing from the map, though it is present in all other comets.

This illustration of Comet 238P/Read shows the main belt comet sublimating, its water ice vaporizing as its orbit approaches the Sun. This is significant, as the sublimation is what distinguishes comets from asteroids, creating their distinctive tail and hazy halo, or coma, reported NASA.

It is especially important for Comet Read, as it is one of 16 identified main belt comets found in the asteroid belt, as opposed to the colder Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud, more distant from the Sun. Comet Read was one of three comets used to define the class of main belt comets in 2006.

The James Webb Space Telescope’s detection of water vapor at Comet Read is a major benchmark in the study of main belt comets, and in the broader investigation of the origin of Earth’s abundant water, reported NASA.

However, the fact that carbon dioxide was not detected in the sublimating material was a surprise that scientists will need to follow-up on to get a better understanding of the role main belt comets play in the history, and current state, of our solar system.