NASA's James Webb Space Telescope detected water and other essential molecules within a planet-forming disk in a hostile galactic environment.
The inner disk around XUE 1, located in the star cluster Pismis 24, was found to contain water and other molecules crucial for rocky planet formation.
The study suggests that rocky planets may form in a broader range of environments than previously thought.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a groundbreaking discovery that challenges previous assumptions about the formation of rocky planets. The telescope detected water and other essential molecules within a planet-forming disk located in a hostile galactic environment. This finding suggests that the conditions required for the formation of terrestrial planets may be more prevalent in diverse environments than previously assumed.
The study, titled 'XUE: Molecular Inventory in the Inner Region of an Extremely Irradiated Protoplanetary Disk', was published in The Astrophysical Journal. It focused on characterizing planet-forming disks in massive star-forming regions, specifically targeting a total of 15 disks in the Lobster Nebula. The inner disk around XUE 1, located in the star cluster Pismis 24, was found to contain water and other molecules crucial for rocky planet formation.
This discovery expands our understanding of rocky planet formation, suggesting that they may form in a broader range of environments than previously thought. This research also sheds light on the formation of the planets in our own solar system. A 2020 study estimated that there could be around six billion Earth-like rocky planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. The JWST's findings reveal that rocky planets may be even more abundant, capable of forming in broader and more hostile environments.
The study found that the inner disk around XUE 1, located in the star cluster Pismis 24, contains water and other molecules crucial for rocky planet formation.