Latest news with #HD181327
NDTV
7 hours ago
- General
- NDTV
James Webb Telescope Detects Frozen Water In Young Star System For The First Time
For decades, scientists have been fascinated by the mystery of how life originated on Earth and where our water came from. One long-standing theory suggests that water was present around our star, particularly in the outer reaches of the solar system in its early days. Recently, NASA researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope made a groundbreaking discovery that lends credence to this theory. They've found water ice in the debris disk that orbits HD 181327, a Sun-like star 155 light-years from Earth. According to Science Alert, the star system, just 23 million years old, is significantly younger than our 4.6-billion-year-old Solar System. This youthful system is still in its formative stages, with a protoplanetary disk surrounding the star that hasn't yet coalesced into planets. Chen Xie, an assistant research scientist at JHU and the study's lead author, said in a recent NASA press release, "Webb unambiguously detected not just water ice, but crystalline water ice, which is also found in locations like Saturn's rings and icy bodies in our Solar System's Kuiper Belt. The presence of water ice helps facilitate planet formation. Icy materials may also ultimately be 'delivered' to terrestrial planets that may form over a couple of hundred million years in systems like this." Using the James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec), researchers detected water ice in the debris disk surrounding HD 181327. The water ice was predominantly found in the outer debris ring, making up over 20% of its mass, in the form of "dirty snowballs", a combination of ice and fine dust particles. The amount of water ice decreased closer to the star, with only 8% of the material consisting of ice halfway in from the disk's edge, and virtually none near the centre. This decrease is likely due to vaporisation from the star's ultraviolet radiation or potentially locked up in rocks and planetesimals. "When I was a graduate student 25 years ago, my advisor told me there should be ice in debris disks, but before Webb, we didn't have instruments sensitive enough to make these observations. What's most striking is that this data looks similar to the telescope's other recent observations of Kuiper Belt objects in our own Solar System," said Christine Chen, an associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and co-author on the study. Analysing these actively forming planetary systems will enhance our understanding of planet formation models and provide fresh insights into the origins of our own Solar System.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Water Discovered Around a Young, Sun-Like Star For First Time
For decades it was thought that water was prevalent in the outer reaches of the Solar System early in its history, with comets and asteroids delivering moisture to Earth and the inner planets during the Late Heavy Bombardment period around 4 billion years ago. An abundance of ice in places like the Kuiper Belt – the ring of 'iceteroids' in the outer Solar System – supports the idea. However, the hypothesis could not be tested until it became possible to study extrasolar systems in the early stages of formation. Thanks to the JWST, scientists finally have hard evidence that this theory is correct. According to a recent study led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the space telescope detected water ice in the debris disk that orbits HD 181327, a Sun-like star 155 light-years from Earth. Just 23 million years old, this system is quite young compared to the Solar System (4.6 billion years and counting!). As a result, the star is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk that has not yet coalesced to form a system of planets. Studying stars this young allows astronomers to observe a system still in the early stages of formation. As Chen Xie, an assistant research scientist at JHU and the study's lead author, said in a recent NASA press release: "Webb unambiguously detected not just water ice, but crystalline water ice, which is also found in locations like Saturn's rings and icy bodies in our Solar System's Kuiper Belt. The presence of water ice helps facilitate planet formation. Icy materials may also ultimately be 'delivered' to terrestrial planets that may form over a couple hundred million years in systems like this." The researchers observed HD 181327 using JWST's near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec), which revealed the telltale chemical traces of water in the outer reaches of the system's debris disk. As predicted, most of the system's water ice was found in the outer debris ring, accounting for over 20 percent of its mass. Like the Kuiper Belt, the water is in the form of 'dirty snowballs' – ice combined with fine dust particles. The closer to the star the researchers looked, the less water they found. Just 8 percent of the material half way in from the disk's edge consists of ice, where virtually none was detected towards the center of the system. This is likely due to vaporization from the star's ultraviolet radiation, though it's also possible that a sizeable amount of water is locked up in rocks and planetesimals. Since water ice heavily influences the formation of planets around young stars, the results present new opportunities for researchers to study the processes governing solar system development. They also confirm what NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hinted at when it observed this system in 2008. "When I was a graduate student 25 years ago, my advisor told me there should be ice in debris disks, but prior to Webb, we didn't have instruments sensitive enough to make these observations," says Christine Chen, an associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and co-author on the study. "What's most striking is that this data looks similar to the telescope's other recent observations of Kuiper Belt objects in our own Solar System." Webb's observations also revealed a wide, dust-free gap between the star and its debris disk. Farther from the star, the debris disk looks similar to the Kuiper Belt, which is populated by countless dirty snowballs and minor planets. In addition, collisions still take place in the Kuiper Belt, which the team noticed about HD 181327 as well. "HD 181327 is a very active system," says Chen. "There are regular, ongoing collisions in its debris disk. When those icy bodies collide, they release tiny particles of dusty water ice that are perfectly sized for Webb to detect." With these observations under their belt, astronomers will continue to search for water ice and debris disks to observe closely using JWST and other next-generation telescopes, some of which will launch soon. Studying these actively forming planetary systems will inform planetary formation models and shed new light on how our Solar System came to be. The team's results were published in the journal Nature. June's Full Moon Will Be The Lowest in The Sky For Decades. Here's Why. The Milky Way Might Not Crash Into The Andromeda Galaxy After All Tiny Pebbles Created One of The Most Extreme Worlds in The Galaxy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Is there frozen water just floating around in outer space like 'dirty snowballs'?
GREENBELT, Md. – Astronomers now believe frozen water might be a common sight outside of our solar system thanks to newly reviewed data from Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope. According to the space agency, scientists have confirmed the presence of ice around HD 181327, a star that is similar to our Sun. The giant star is located about 155 light-years away from Earth and is thought to be around 23 million years old – much younger than the 4.6-billion-year-old Sun. But similar to our solar system's star, HD 181327 is surrounded by a large, dusty debris and that is where scientists say the ice exists. Previous research had suggested the presence of frozen water, but its potential existence wasn't solidified until after the Webb became operational. "Webb unambiguously detected not just water ice, but crystalline water ice, which is also found in locations like Saturn's rings and icy bodies in our solar system's Kuiper Belt," Chen Xie, the lead author of the new paper and an assistant research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, said in a statement. See The Objects Humans Left Behind On The Moon Scientists described the ice as resembling dirty snowballs and published an artist rendering of what the phenomenon would look like if an astronaut had a front-row seat to the icy belt. As any novice would surmise, the debris disk is said to vary in water ice thickness, from being heavily populated to non-existent the closer you move to the star. "In the area of the debris disk closest to the star, Webb detected almost none. It's likely that the star's ultraviolet light vaporizes the closest specks of water ice. It's also possible that rocks known as planetesimals have "locked up" frozen water in their interiors, which Webb can't detect," NASA stated. Why is finding ice so important? It may lead to planet formation and bring together the origins of life. "The presence of water ice helps facilitate planet formation," Xie stated. "Icy materials may also ultimately be 'delivered' to terrestrial planets that may form over a couple hundred million years in systems like this." Water ice has already been observed in numerous locations within our solar system, including on Mercury, Mars, Saturn, our Moon, other planets' moons, and the Kuiper Belt. Scientists say what Webb has not picked up on yet are planets around HD 181327, which could be for various reasons, including the infancy of the distant solar system. Future Of Nasa's Mega Moon Rocket Appears In Doubt Following Major Boeing Announcement The Webb is nearing four years in space and has already beamed back stunning images that far surpass the quality of imagery produced by the Hubble and other older telescopes. NASA believes operations of the James Webb Space Telescope have exceeded expectations, and the space observatory could easily exceed its expected 10-year article source: Is there frozen water just floating around in outer space like 'dirty snowballs'?
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb telescope discovers frozen water around alien star
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. In a milestone discovery, astronomers have announced that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected water ice drifting through a dusty ring of debris surrounding a distant, sunlike star. Astronomers have long suspected that water, especially in its frozen form, might be common in the cold, outer reaches of planetary systems beyond our own. That's because in our own solar system, Saturn's moon Enceladus, Jupiter's Ganymede and Europa, and other icy moons are known to contain vast amounts of frozen water. Some of these moons are even thought to harbor subsurface oceans of liquid water, fueling ongoing discussions about their potential to support life. Now, with JWST's confirmation last week, scientists say they can begin exploring how water — a key ingredient for life as we know it — is distributed and transported in other planetary systems. The new discovery centers on a star called HD 181327, located about 155 light-years away, in the constellation Telescopium. At just 23 million years old, HD 181327 is a cosmic infant compared with our 4.6 billion-year-old sun, and it's encircled by a broad, dusty debris disk that is rich in small, early building blocks of planets. "HD 181327 is a very active system," study co-author Christine Chen, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, said in a NASA statement. Frequent collisions between icy bodies in this disk are constantly stirring up fine particles of dusty water ice, which are "perfectly sized for Webb to detect," Chen said. The findings, published May 15 in the journal Nature, suggest these "dirty snowballs" of ice and dust could eventually play a key role in delivering water to future rocky planets that may form over the next few hundred million years. As planets take shape within the disk, comets and other icy bodies could collide with the young worlds and shower them with water — a process thought to have helped seed early Earth with the water that sustains life today. Related: Did the James Webb telescope really find evidence of alien life? Here's the truth about exoplanet K2-18b. RELATED STORIES —Astronomers discover doomed planet shedding a Mount Everest's worth of material every orbit, leaving behind a comet-like tail —James Webb telescope could find signs of life on alien 'hycean' ocean worlds —4 tiny, Earth-like planets found circling 2nd-closest star system to us — and could be visited by future human generations JWST revealed that most of the distant star system's water ice is concentrated in the outer regions of the disk, where temperatures are cold enough for it to remain stable. Closer in, the ice becomes increasingly scarce, likely vaporized by the star's ultraviolet radiation or locked away in larger rocky bodies known as planetesimals, which remain invisible to JWST's infrared instruments. According to the research team, the debris disk around HD 181327 resembles what the Kuiper Belt — the vast, doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond Neptune — likely looked like billions of years ago during the early stages of our solar system's evolution. "What's most striking is that this data looks similar to the telescope's other recent observations of Kuiper Belt objects in our own solar system," Chen said in the statement.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb Space Telescope discovers an alien planetary system's icy edge
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. At long last, particles of water–ice have been discovered in the frozen Kuiper Belt of another star. The discovery, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, is a major step forward in filling in gaps in our understanding of how exoplanets develop. Like the Kuiper Belt in our solar system, this extraterrestrial debris disk is likely filled with comets, dwarf planets and a lot of water-ice particles chipped off larger bodies as the result of collisions. The debris disk, also like our Kuiper Belt, is made up of remnants of a larger disk that once encircled the star — called HD 181327 — and probably gave birth to planets. To be clear, however, no planets in the region have been detected thus far. Because water is one of the most common molecules in the universe, its presence in HD 181327's debris disk is not a surprise. Indeed, exocomets have been detected around other stars; in our solar system, comets come from the frigid, icy Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, so exocomets must originate from somewhere similar. However, while debris disks around other stars have been known about and imaged ever since the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) found debris disks around two nearby stars (Vega and beta Pictoris) a while back, we've not had an instrument able to detect water-ice within them until now. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and its Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec), astronomers led by Chen Xie of Johns Hopkins University in the United States probed the debris disk around HD 181327. The star and its debris disk have previously been well-studied. Located 155.6 light-years away, they are just 18.5 million years old. This is extremely young compared to our sun's age of 4.6 billion years. The star is an F-type, meaning it's a little hotter and slightly more massive than our sun. NIRSpec detected the signature water in HD 181327's spectrum, principally at a wavelength of 3 microns (millionths of a meter), with a peak coming at 3.1 microns. This spike in the spectrum, referred to as a "Fresnel peak," is caused by the refraction of light by water-ice particles that are just millimeters in size. This is similar in size to the icy particles in Saturn's rings, for example, and the ice is likely frozen around motes of interplanetary dust. "Basically, we detected a water–ice reservoir," Xie told This water–ice reservoir could be instrumental in the development of any planetary system that might exist around HD 181327. Gas giant planets, for example, form beyond a boundary called the snow line, which is the distance from a star where temperatures are cold enough for planet-forming material to contain water-ice. Water-ice helps material stick together in a giant kind of mush that can form the basis of a large, rocky planetary core that can then pull in gas to form the distended atmosphere of a giant planet. The water on terrestrial planets such as Earth also likely was delivered by asteroids and/or comets that formed beyond the snow line and are rich in water-ice. Therefore, the discovery of water-ice in HD 181327's debris disk means the materials are present there to aid in the development of any planets orbiting the star, although at this time no planets have yet been detected in the system. "The presence of a water-ice reservoir in the planetesimal belt around HD 181327 provides the potential to deliver water to nearby planets," said Xie. "But we don't know how much water-ice could eventually be delivered to the planets in the system." It's tempting to make comparisons between our Kuiper Belt and HD 181327's debris disk. Xie warns about being too literal in the comparison, though, because there are significant gaps in our knowledge of both icy belts and how they relate to each other. Nevertheless, we can draw some general conclusions. "The presence of water-ice in a debris disk around such a young star does suggest that icy planetesimals can form relatively quickly, so it's possible that icy bodies in our own Kuiper Belt could have formed early in the cold outer regions of the solar system," he said. Their early existence could have then helped in the development of the solar system's planets. However, the planet-forming disk around HD 181327 has now dissipated, and any planets that are present will have already formed. Furthermore, the JWST's observations show how the inner region of the debris disk is being eroded by the star's ultraviolet light. The strength of the spectral line for water-ice at the inner edge of the debris disk, 80 to 90 astronomical units (meaning 80 to 90 times Earth's distance from the sun), suggests water-ice makes up just 0.1% of the total mass in that part of the disk. Farther out, between 90 and 105 astronomical units, the water-ice mass fraction rises to 7.5%, and between 105 and 120 astronomical units it peaks at 21%, out where it is coldest. Coincidentally, the Fresnel peak is found between 90 and 105 astronomical units. So, what's going on? Ultraviolet light from the star is able to vaporize the water-ice, but something seems to be replenishing it — otherwise, the water-ice in the debris disk would have eroded away by now. This replenishment likely comes from collisions between dwarf planets, cometary nuclei, micrometeoroids and other flotsam and jetsam lurking in the dark of the debris disk. Each impact sputters more dust and ice grains into space, and each large impact sends a shower of fragments spinning away. If there's enough dust present, it could also shield water-ice from the star's ultraviolet light. Dust that has been detected already includes grains of olivine and iron sulfide. Related Stories: — 2nd Kuiper Belt? Our solar system may be much larger than thought — Hubble Telescope discovers a new '3-body problem' puzzle among Kuiper Belt asteroids (video) — New JWST observations of 'trans-Neptunian objects' could help reveal our solar system's past Meanwhile, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is a radio telescope in Chile, has detected carbon monoxide in the debris disk, which could also have been released into space by collisions between icy bodies. In addition, the JWST's NIRSpec found tentative evidence for the presence of carbon dioxide in the region of the disk between 105 and 120 astronomical units from the star, although this still needs to be confirmed. A second spectral line for water-ice, at 4.5 microns, was also detected by the JWST in the 105 to 120 astronomical-unit region, indicating this outer part of the debris disk might be the most rich in volatiles: gases with low evaporation points. Now that the JWST has demonstrated that it can detect water-ice in exoplanetary systems, we can expect more widespread discoveries in the future. Indeed, Xie and his team are already working on it. "Besides HD 181327, we have also observed other systems with the JWST and NIRSPec," he said. "We're currently working on publishing those data, so stay tuned!" The discovery of water-ice around HD 181327 was published on May 14 in the journal Nature.
