The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), operated by NASA, has uncovered intriguing new details about Charon—Pluto’s largest moon—including the presence of previously undetected surface chemicals. This recent research, led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), offers valuable insights into Charon’s composition and sheds light on the formation and surface evolution of both Charon and other remote Kuiper Belt objects.
Extraordinary observations of compositions on Charon’s surface by the Webb Telescope
The capacity of the Webb Space Telescope (WST) to gaze at far objects in greater detail than ever before has already resulted in remarkable discoveries concerning galaxies, stars, and planets. However, in this instance, it is not the galaxies but rather Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, that has thrilled scientists.
Two new materials were found on the surface of the moon, researchers said: carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). These materials expand Charon’s already rich chemical inventory, which previously consisted of water ice, amines, and other organic substances.
Charon, relatively free from perturbed ices such as methane, Silvia Protopapa (one of the authors) noted, provides an excellent terrain for such processes as solar exposure, e.g. cratering without, rather, the correlative presence of volatiles. The JWST carried out a Near – Infra Red Spectroscopy study of light reflected from the northern shared hemisphere of Charon from the years 2022 to 2023.
The team then looked at the spectrum and pinpointed the fingerprint of these compounds to confirm carbon dioxide on the surface, and its corresponding figure, to describe distribution of the element. This technique, which correlates the information with lab results, is a practical approach to the identification and analysis of the molecules on an object located far away.
Monster of carbon dioxide: Charon’s underworld revealed by own source – JWST
The identification of carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surface of Charon indicates that it comes from some source underneath the surface that is then brought up by cratering. This was contrary to earlier beliefs about its content and draws attention to the contribution of compounds interacting with it towards its sheen. The result offers some perspectives regarding the geological history of Charon and the history of Kuiper Belt objects in general.
The surface of Charon might contain hydrogen peroxide and could help understand the effects of radiation activity on icy surfaces
Charon’s surface also carries significant amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the other remarkable finding from the JWST observations. It suggests that the icy water that covers Charon is exposed to rather high doses of ultraviolet radiation.
However, such particles, from both the sun as well as the interstellar medium, also break water molecules to form H2O2. Such a chemical reaction helps in making sense of the environment of a faraway body, in this case, through a process called radiolysis.
Hydrogen peroxide found on Charon may not just be limited to this moon. Other frozen objects in the Kuiper belt could also follow suit, which in turn may help explain how these materials work in relation to the rest of the solar system and beyond. There are reasons to believe that the results of the JWST can change the understanding of the behavior of such materials in other frozen worlds.
The James Webb Space Telescope, developed by NASA, has been astonishingly probing the space ever since its inception and the recent studies concerning Moons of Pluto Charon are no different. The system has astronomical insights associated with the surface measurements of newly detected materials like CO2 and H2O2 present on the surface of Charon, its growth and evolution and the evolution models of the outer solar system icy bodies.
These results may provide valuable insights in future studies of the Kuiper belt and moons creation including Charon and osmosis of the Kuiper Belt and solar nebula formation. The secrets surrounding Charon are just tyro peeling off and there is a whole lot that could be achieved with JWST.