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Astronomers have created what could be the first two-dimensional ice inventory of a “protoplanetary disc” of dust and gas that surrounds a young star. They used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the planet-forming disc and published their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on Wednesday.
Ice is essential in the formation of planets and comets. Solid dust particles clump together into larger chunks because of ice. This is what forms planets and comets. Also, scientists believe that impacts from icy comets played an important role in contributing to the amount of water on our planet. Ice may also contain atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, which are considered to be the building blocks of life.
Despite all that, scientists have never mapped ice in planet-forming discs, according to Leiden University. This is because telescopes on Earth are hindered by the water in our atmosphere. Also, most space telescopes were not large enough to detect and resolve such small and faint targets. That is where the Webb telescope comes in.
The researchers used it to study the starlight from the relatively young star HH 48 NE as it passed through its planet-forming disc. The star and its discs are located about 600 light-years away from us in the direction of the Chameleon constellation. The disc itself looks like a hamburger with a dark central lane and two bright “buns.” This is because we are looking at it from the side.
This creates absorption spectra with different peaks specific to each molecule. The problem is that little light actually reaches the telescope, especially from the densest part of the disc. However since Webb is extremely sensitive, low levels of light do not pose a problem.
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