James Webb Telescope detects carbon dioxide in a centaur for the first time

The James Webb Space Telescope has been a tremendous success Capture of carbon dioxide emissions by a centaur. The observations focused on the active centaur 39P/Oterma and provided important information about the mechanisms driving its activity.

centaurs, mostly small bodies whose semi-major orbital axis extends into the region of the larger planets. Most of the time they move between Jupiter and Neptune, and their orbits intersect with the paths of one or more planets.

The lead author of the study is Dr. from the University. “The study of centaurs is important because they are very well-preserved objects that can tell us many important things about the chemical composition and physical processes of the young Solar System,” explains Olga Harrington Pinto. Auburn’s.

Centaur 39P/Oterma

The discovery of 39P/Oterma was made in 1943 by Finnish astronomer Liisi Oterma. and for a long time it was considered a comet. However, the characteristics of its orbit indicate that it is a centaur, although it has many features typical of comets.

astronomers classify it as one of the active centaurs – comet-like objects that have tails but do not approach the Sun along their orbits.

cosmic revelations

For this groundbreaking study, researchers harnessed the power of JWST’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), complemented by ground-based observations from the Gemini Northern Observatory and the Lowell Reconnaissance Telescope.

The survey was conducted in July 2022 as 39P/Oterma orbited near perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 5.82 astronomical units.

Over the years, the perihelion of 39P/Oterma has undergone gradual changes: 3.39 AU in 1958, 5.47 AU in 1983, and 5.71 AU in 2023; forecasts point to 5.91 AU and 6.15 AU in 2042 and 2246, respectively.

Analysis of JWST NIRSpec data confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide on Centaur 39P/Oterma, marking a significant discovery. This is the smallest amount of carbon dioxide ever identified in a centaur or comet..

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