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It detected for the first time traces of carbon dioxide and
hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Charon, which is about half
Pluto's size.
Previous research, including a flyby from NASA's New Horizons
spacecraft in 2015, revealed that the moon's surface was coated
by water ice. But scientists couldn't sense chemicals lurking at
certain infrared wavelengths until the Webb telescope came
around to fill in the gaps.
“There's a lot of fingerprints of chemicals that we otherwise
wouldn't get to see,” said Carly Howett, a New Horizons
scientist who was not involved with the new study.
The research published Tuesday in the journal Nature
Communications.
Pluto, a dwarf planet, and its moons are in the far fringes of
our solar system in a zone known as the Kuiper Belt. Besides
water ice, ammonia and organic materials were previously
detected on Charon. Both Pluto and Charon are over 3 billion
miles (4.83 billion kilometers) from the sun and are likely too
chilly to support life.
Scientists think the hydrogen peroxide may have sprung from
radiation pinging off water molecules on Charon's surface. The
carbon dioxide might spew to the surface after impacts, said
study co-author Silvia Protopapa from the Southwest Research
Institute.
The latest detection is key to studying how Charon came to be
and may help scientists tease out the makeup of other faraway
moons and planets.
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