James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

NASA's Webb Reveals Unusual Jets of Volatile Gas from Icy Centaur 29P (Artist's Concept)

Centaurs are objects in orbital flux: small and icy, pushed inward of Neptune by its gravity, not quite comets...yet. Webb mapped gases spewing from Centaur 29P in high detail, providing new insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system. Because centaurs are in a transition stage of their orbit around the Sun, they might be a link between outer solar system icy bodies and evolved comets. Due to their location, centaurs are too cold for water ice to sublimate (turn from a solid to a gas) the way it does on comets. But Centaur 29P does have active outbursts that vary in intensity every 6-8 weeks. With Webb, scientists discovered a new jet of carbon monoxide, but also jets of carbon dioxide, marking this as the first definitive detection of CO2 on this object. In an added twist, the angles of the jets suggest that Centaur 29P might be made of multiple objects of differing compositions that coalesced. Centaurs are like the leftovers of our solar system’s formation and in their icy bodies is preserved chemical information about our early stages. Read more: go.nasa.gov/487eMwN Image description: Artist’s concept of Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 as seen from the side against a dark, mostly starless swath of space. The rocky, bilobed nucleus is toward the right and resembles the simplified shape of a peanut. The left side of the centaur is partially illuminated by the Sun, which is off-screen, revealing the nucleus’ light brown surface. Four jets of gas, depicted as translucent cones of white, emanate from various points on the Centaur’s surface and extend beyond the frame: two emanate upward from the top, one jet spews from the bottom and extends downward, and one jet emanates from the left side of the nucleus and extends toward the left. A label in the bottom left corner reads “Artist’s Concept.” Credits: Artist’s Concept: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI) Image & Description by NASA