Finally, water particles were discovered in the frozen Kuiper Belt of another star. The discoveries created by James Webb Space Telescope are a major step towards filling the gaps in understanding how exoplanets develop.
Like Kuiper Belt With us Solar Systemthis extraterrestrial shard disk is probably filled comet, Planet of the d star And as a result of the collision, many water ice particles were missing from the large body. The debris disk, like our Kuiper Belt, is made up of the remains of a large disk that once surrounded the star called HD 181327, and possibly laid the planet. However, for clarity, no planets in this region have been detected so far.
As water is one of the most common molecules in the universe, it is no surprise that it is present in the debris disk of HD 181327. surely, Exo Comet Detected around other stars. In our solar system, comets come from the frigid, icy Kuiper Belt and Ort Cloud, so Exo Comets must come from somewhere similar.
However, since the infrared astronomical satellites (IRAs) found wreckage disks around two nearby stars (Vega and Beta pictoris), debris disks around other stars have been known and imaged, but up until now there have been no instruments that could not detect water ice.
Using James Webbspace Telescope Astronomers led by (JWST) and its near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSPEC), Chen Shee of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, investigated discs of debris around HD in 181327. It is located at 155.6 Light year Away, they are only 18.5 million years old. This is very young compared to us solarHe is 4.6 billion years old. The stars are F type. This means it’s a little hotter and slightly bigger than our sun.
NIRSPEC detected signature water in the HD 181327 spectrum, with wavelengths primarily 3 microns (1 in a millionth of a meter) and appeared at a peak of 3.1 microns. The spikes in this spectrum, known as the “Fresnel Peak,” are caused by the refraction of light by water ice particles of only millimeters in size. This is similar in size to the ice-like particles of Saturn’s ring, for example, and the ice could be frozen around the interplanetary dust moat.
“We basically detected a water and ice reservoir,” Xie told Space.com.
This water reservoir may be instrumental in developing a planetary system that may exist around HD 181327. Gas giant For example, planets form across boundaries called snow lines. This is the distance from cold stars that are sufficiently temperature to contain water ice. Water ice can help the material stick to a huge variety of mash, form the foundation of the core of a large, rocky planet, draw gas in, and form the expanding atmosphere of the giant planet.
Water on terrestrial planets such as Earth Also probably delivered asteroid A comet formed across the snow line and is rich in water. Therefore, the discovery of water ice on the Debris disc of HD 181327 means that the material is there. StarsAt this time, no planets have been detected in the system yet.
“The presence of water ice reservoirs in the planetary belt around HD 181327 provides the possibility of supplying water to nearby planets,” Xie said. “But we don’t know how much water ice we can deliver in the end to the planets within the system.”
It’s fascinating to compare Kuiper Belt with the HD 181327 Debris Disk. However, Xie warns about being too literal in comparison. Because there is a huge gap in our knowledge of both icy belts, warning us of how they relate to each other. Nonetheless, some general conclusions can be drawn.
“The presence of water ice on the discs of debris around such young stars suggests that ice-like planets can form relatively quickly, so it is possible that our own Kuiper Belt ice bodies formed early in the cold outer regions of the solar system,” he said. Their early existence may have helped to develop planets in the solar system.
However, the planetary formation disks around HD 181327 are currently dissipating, and the existing planets have already formed. Furthermore, JWST observations show how the internal regions of the debris disk are eroding by star ultraviolet rays. Intensity of the spectral line of water ice at the inner edge of the debris disc, 80-90 Astronomy Unit (meaning 80-90 times the distance from the Earth’s Sun) suggests that water ice accounts for only 0.1% of the total mass of that part of the disc. Furthermore, between 90-105 astronomical units, the mass fraction of water ice rises to 7.5%, while the 105-120 astronomical units peak at 21%, leaving the coldest places. Coincidentally, Fresnel’s peak is in astronomical units between 90 and 105.
So, what’s going on? UV rays from the stars can evaporate water ice, but something seems to be replenishing it. Otherwise, the water ice from Debris would have been eroded by now.
This replenishment is likely due to the collisions between the dwarf planet, the comedic nucleus, microcellular bodies, and other flotsam and Jetsum lurking in the darkness of the debris disc. Each impact causes dust and ice grain to hit the universe, each of which sends out a shower of fragments. If there is enough dust, it can also protect water ice from the ultraviolet rays of the stars. The detected dust already contains olivine and iron sulfide grains.
Meanwhile, the Atacama large millimeter/sub-millimeter array (Alma), a Chilean radio telescope, detected carbon monoxide in a debris disk. This could have been released into space by collisions between ice bodies. Additionally, JWST’s NIRSPEC found preliminary evidence that carbon dioxide exists in the area of ​​the disk between 105-120 astronomical units from the star, which still needs to be confirmed. The second spectral line of water ice at 4.5 microns was also detected by JWST in the astronomical domains of 105-120. This indicates that this outer part of the debris disk may be the most abundant volatile gas.
JWST has demonstrated that water ice can be detected in deplanetary systems, allowing us to expect more extensive discoveries in the future. Certainly, Xie and his team are already working on that.
“In addition to HD 181327, we also observed other systems from JWST and NIRSPEC,” he said. “We are currently working on publishing these data, so stay tuned!”
Water ice discoveries around HD 181327 were published in the journal on May 14th Nature.
