Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe a rare comet in our solar system, making a long-awaited scientific breakthrough and stumbling across another mystery at the same time
. For the first time, water was detected in a main belt comet, or a comet located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The discovery came after 15 years of attempts by astronomers using different observation methods. The space observatory detected water vapor around Comet Read, which suggests that water ice can be preserved in a warmer part of the solar system. A study detailing the findings was published Monday in the journal Nature.
“Understanding the history of water distribution in the solar system will help us to understand other planetary systems, and if they could be on their way to hosting an Earth-like planet.” Investigating rare comets Main belt comets were first codiscovered in 2006 by study coauthor Henry Hsieh, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. Comet Read was one of the original comets used to create the subcategory.
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James Webb telescope discovers ancient 'water world' in nearby star systemBriley Lewis (she/her) is a freelance science writer and Ph.D. Candidate/NSF Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles studying Astronomy & Astrophysics. Follow her on Twitter briles_34 or visit her website www.briley-lewis.com.
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