The JWST found water in a comet in the asteroid belt. It's also missing carbon dioxide; scientists wonder how many more there are like it.
Active asteroids are asteroids that suffer mass loss through some mechanism or another. But some of these active asteroids display activity that’s more appropriate for a comet than an asteroid. They have tails and comae that make them instantly recognizable as comets, though they follow orbits like any other asteroid.
“Our water-soaked world, teeming with life and unique in the Universe as far as we know, is something of a mystery – we’re not sure how all this water got here.”The MBC is called Comet 238P/Read, and it’s about 600 meters in diameter. Astronomer Michael Read discovered it in 2005, and it’s one of the first objects to be classified as a main-belt comet.
“Our water-soaked world, teeming with life and unique in the Universe as far as we know, is something of a mystery – we’re not sure how all this water got here,” said Stefanie Milam, Webb Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science and a co-author on the study reporting the finding. “Understanding the history of water distribution in the Solar System will help us to understand other planetary systems, and if they could be on their way to hosting an Earth-like planet,” she added.
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