James Webb Offers First Glimpse Into How Moons Are Built Around Distant Planets

James Webb Offers First Glimpse Into How Moons Are Built Around Distant Planets

The James Webb Space Telescope has detected carbon-bearing molecules in a moon-forming disk surrounding CT Cha b, a massive planet-like object orbiting a young star 625 light-years away. The discovery marks the first measurement of its kind and offers clues to how moons like those around Jupiter and Saturn might have formed.

JWST Discovers Carbon-Rich Disk Around Exoplanet CT Cha b

In the vast expanse of exoplanetary science, a groundbreaking observation has illuminated the processes that might birth moons around distant worlds. Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have detected a carbon-rich disk encircling a massive exoplanet known as CT Cha b, located some 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. This disk, teeming with carbon-based molecules but notably lacking in water vapor, offers a rare …