{"id":46574,"date":"2023-06-22T07:36:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T07:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=119641"},"modified":"2023-06-22T09:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T09:32:29","slug":"water-survives-on-rare-main-belt-comet-238p-read","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/water-survives-on-rare-main-belt-comet-238p-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Water survives on rare main belt comet 238P\/Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water vapour on a main belt comet is another JWST discovery first. <\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Comet 238P\/Read spends its lifetime much closer to the Sun than most comets in the asteroid belt, yet has managed to hold on to its water, according to recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, we\u2019ve seen objects in the main belt with all the characteristics of comets<\/a>, but only with this precise spectral data from Webb can we say yes, it\u2019s definitely water ice that is creating that effect,\u201d says Michael Kelley from the University of Maryland, who led the study.<\/p>\n

But while 238P\/Read\u2019s water might have survived the relative warmth of the asteroid belt<\/a>, the same does not appear to be true for its carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n

\""NIRCam\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Image of Comet 238P\/Read captured by the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope, 8 September 2022. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Kelley (University of Maryland), H. Hsieh (Planetary Science Institute), A. Pagan (STScI)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The molecule usually makes up 10 per cent of similar comets, but JWST failed to find any on 238P\/Read.<\/p>\n

This could be because carbon dioxide vapourises more easily than water ice or it could indicate that 238P\/Read formed in a warm pocket of the Solar System, free from carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n

The team hopes to determine which is more likely by observing other main belt comets.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo other main belt comets also lack carbon dioxide? Either way it will be exciting to find out,\u201d says Heidi Hammel, lead for JWST\u2019s guaranteed time observations of Solar System objects.<\/p>\n

webbtelescope.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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