Scientists Use James Webb Space Telescope To Better Understand Solar System's Origins

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University of Central Florida (UCF) scientists and their collaborators discovered new insights into the formation of distant icy objects in space beyond Neptune, offering a deeper understanding of our solar system's formation and growth.

The findings, recently published in The Astronomical Journal Letters by the American Astronomical Society, reveal two distinct groups of TNOs with surface ice methanol presence: one with a depleted amount of surface methanol and a large reservoir beneath the surface, and another -- furthest from the Sun -- with an overall weaker methanol presence. The study suggests that cosmic irradiation over billions of years may have played a role in the first group's varying methanol distribution, while raising new questions about the second group's muted signatures.

TNOs are important to our understanding of our solar system's origins because they are incredibly well-preserved remnants of the protoplanetary disk -- or disk of gas and dust surrounding a young star such as the Sun -- and can give scientists a thorough glimpse into the past.

Pinilla-Alonso says the research helps piece together the history of the solar system's chemistry and gain insights into exoplanets, where methanol and methane play a crucial role in shaping atmospheres and hinting at the conditions of potentially habitable worlds.

"Methanol, a simple alcohol, has been found on comets and distant TNOs, hinting that it may be a primitive ingredient inherited from the early days of our solar system -- or even from interstellar space," Pinilla-Alonso says. "But methanol is more than just a leftover from the past. When exposed to radiation, it transforms into new compounds, acting as a chemical time capsule that reveals how these icy worlds have evolved over billions of years."

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