James Webb has just discovered oxygenated water in the most unexpected place we could think of: Pluto’s moon.

Instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are capable of reaching the deepest reaches of the Universe in space and time. However, from time to time they point out closer locations to give us a fresh look at our star region.

Inventory expansion. That’s exactly what happened recently: James Webb pointed to Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, and found evidence of two new compounds on its surface: carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen peroxide (oxygenated water, or H2O2).

As explained in SwRI (Southwestern Research Institute), the institution that led the project, this discovery adds new materials to Carnonte’s “chemical inventory”. Inventory that already contained compounds such as water ice, ammonia compounds and organic molecules.

“Charon is the only medium-sized object in the Kuiper belt (…) that has been geologically mapped by the SwRI-led New Horizons mission,” Silvia Protopapa, a member of the team responsible for the discovery, said in press. release. . “Charon is not hidden by highly volatile ices such as methane, and thus provides valuable information about processes such as the effects of sunlight and cratering on these distant bodies.”

Near infrared. Between 2022 and 2023, the telescope aimed at the system formed by Pluto and Charon, obtaining full coverage of the satellite’s northern hemisphere. Detection was carried out using the NIRSpec near-infrared spectrograph (Near-infrared spectrograph) JWST.

The instrument analyzed the near-infrared segment of the light reflected by Charon. Different elements and molecules leave a distinct mark on the way light reflects off the surface of an object. By analyzing this fingerprint, it is possible to determine which compounds reflect this light. The larger the range of light spectrum we analyze, the more data we will have about these compounds.

The analysis and its contrast with measurements taken in the laboratory, the team explains, also led to the conclusion that the carbon dioxide present on Charon’s surface forms a kind of coating covering a deeper layer with abundant water ice. Details of the study were recently published in a journal article. Natural communications.

Where does this CO2 come from? As for the origin of this carbon dioxide, the team believes that it could have been inside the moon and reached the surface through Charon’s crater formation processes. “It is known that carbon dioxide was present in the region of the protoplanetary disk in which the Pluto system was formed,” explained Protopapa.

Hydrogen peroxide? The oxygen-rich water, in turn, “clearly” indicates that the frozen water on the moon’s surface is affected by ultraviolet radiation reaching it, as well as charged particles arriving from the Sun and the interstellar medium, the team explains. Ions and other particles, acting on water molecules, are able to destroy it, after which its atoms are rearranged, forming molecules of hydrogen peroxide.

Pluto and Charon. The system formed by Pluto and Charon is unique. Together they form a binary system, which, due to the small difference between the masses of both objects and their distance, rotates around a center of gravity located outside the main planet Pluto. That is, both Pluto and Charon revolve around an imaginary point located near the dwarf planet.

Knowing Charon’s composition can help us understand the mysteries of this unique system. For example, revealing to us how this satellite was formed. As astrophysicist Brad Tucker (who was not involved in the study) explained, our main hypothesis about the birth of Charon is that it was the result of a collision between Pluto and an asteroid in the Kuiper Belt. A birth similar to the birth of our Moon.

However, this is not the only possibility. For example, both objects could have been the result of a collision between two other asteroids that broke up and reassembled into this binary system. Research like this could help us solve this mystery.

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Image | NASA, APL, SwRI