For the first time, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ices have been observed in the far reaches of our solar system on trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs).
A research team, led by planetary scientists Mário Nascimento De Prá and Noemí Pinilla-Alonso from the University of Central Florida’s Florida Space Institute (FSI), made the findings by using the infrared spectral capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to analyze the chemical composition of 59 trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs.
The pioneering study, published this week in Nature Astronomy, suggests that carbon dioxide ice was abundant in the cold outer regions of the protoplanetary disk, the vast rotating disk of gas and dust from which the solar system formed. Further investigation is needed to understand the carbon monoxide ice’s origins, as it also prevalent on the TNOs in the study.
To read more, click here.