Scientists announced Monday that Webb spotted water vapor around a comet in the main asteroid belt, which suggests ice from the early solar system can be preserved in this region between Mars and Jupiter.
This image of Comet 238P/Read was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope on Sept. 8, 2022. It displays the hazy halo, called the coma, and tail that are characteristic of comets.could help scientists studying a big question: How did so much water get on Earth?in the main asteroid belt, which suggests ice from the early solar system can be preserved in this region between Mars and Jupiter. Measuring water in this asteroid belt could help answer questions on how Earth's oceans were formed.
“Our water-soaked world, teeming with life and unique in the universe as far as we know, is something of a mystery — we’re not sure how all this water got here,” said Stefanie Milam, Webb deputy project scientist for planetary science at NASA and an author on the studySome scientists believe ancient asteroids or comets crashed into Earth carrying water and carbon-based molecules, which helped initiate life on our planet.
"Objects like Comet Read will help us estimate how much water is in today's asteroid belt," Kelley said in an email,"then we can work backwards to the early solar system and the Earth's oceans."is a fairly new classification called a main belt comet. These objects reside in the main asteroid belt but periodically have a halo or tail like a comet.
Scientists previously speculated that frozen water could be preserved in the main asteroid belt, but they didn't have proof until Webb observed Comet Read. "In the past, we’ve seen objects in the main belt with all the characteristics of comets, but only with this precise spectral data from Webb can we say, 'Yes, it’s definitely water ice that is creating that effect,'" Kelley said in the news release.
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