NASA Detects Crystalline Water Ice 169 Light-Years Away Around Young Star

NASA has detected crystalline water ice around a young star located 169 light-years from Earth. This discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope and reveals water in a solid form, unlike the liquid water found on Earth. The finding provides new insight into how planets form and how water exists in different states beyond our Solar System.

Water plays a key role in the formation of giant planets and can be delivered to rocky planets through comets and asteroids. Frozen water has been observed on planets and moons within our Solar System, such as Mars and Neptune. However, this is the first time crystalline water ice has been confirmed around a star outside our system.

The star, named HD 181327, is relatively close in cosmic terms, at just 169 light-years away. It is a young star, about 23 million years old, which is much younger than our sun’s age of 4.6 billion years. The star is also slightly larger and hotter than the sun.

The James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph was used to detect the crystalline water ice in the dusty debris disk surrounding HD 181327. This form of ice has a structured arrangement of molecules and has previously been observed in Saturn’s rings and other bodies within our Solar System.

Water ice in debris disks plays an important role in planet formation. It helps giant planets develop and can deliver water to fully formed rocky planets. Detecting this ice allows scientists to better understand the processes that shape planetary systems.

The debris disk around the star resembles the Kuiper Belt in our Solar System. This belt is a region filled with icy bodies beyond Neptune, including dwarf planets like Pluto. The NASA team found that only about 8% of the disk’s material is crystalline water ice, mostly in the outer parts where temperatures are lower. Closer to the star, the ice vaporizes due to intense ultraviolet radiation.

The collisions within the debris disk expose the ice, making it detectable by instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope. Such collisions are similar to those observed between comets and dwarf planets in our Solar System.

This discovery confirms a long-standing theory about the presence of ice in debris disks around young stars. It also marks a milestone in the study of how water and other materials behave in space and contribute to planet formation.

The James Webb Space Telescope’s advanced instruments were key to making this observation. The telescope’s ability to detect faint dust particles and ice from space with high precision has opened new opportunities for understanding the origins of water in the universe.