Astronomers have made a remarkable discovery, detecting water vapor near a nearby star known as PDS 70, indicating the potential for planets forming around it to support life. This young planetary system, located 370 light-years away, includes two gas giant planets orbiting the star, with researchers suspecting a third "sibling" planet forming in the system, CNN reports.
The star at the center of PDS 70 is cooler than our sun and approximately 5.4mn years old. The gas giants orbit in a gap between two disks of gas and dust that surround the star, the essential ingredients for forming planets. The Webb telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument detected the signature of water vapor in the inner disk, suggesting that rocky planets similar to those in our solar system could potentially form in this region. This discovery is groundbreaking since astronomers had not observed water vapor in a planet-forming disk of this age before.
While no planets have been confirmed in the inner disk yet, the presence of water vapor raises the possibility that the planets forming there could contain water. The amount of small dust grains in the inner disk and the detection of water vapor make it an exciting area for further study.
The origin of the water vapor remains a mystery, but it could be a result of hydrogen and oxygen atoms combining to form water molecules or icy dust particles moving from the cooler outer disk to the hot inner disk, causing the ice to turn into vapor. The water vapor's stability is likely due to the protective shield of dust, preventing it from being broken apart by the star's ultraviolet radiation.
Researchers are eager to continue observing the PDS 70 system with the Webb telescope to unravel more secrets about this fascinating planetary system in the making. The findings have been published in the journal Nature, and scientists believe that this discovery is a significant step in understanding the formation of rocky planets like Earth.
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