JWST: Search for Interstellar Water

[bystander]

Webb Telescope to Make a Splash in Search for Interstellar Water
NASA | James Webb Space Telescope | 2018 Mar 09

Webb Telescope Will Map Cosmic Ices

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Ice Formation in a Protoplanetary Disk - Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt

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Water is crucial for life, but how do you make water? Cooking up some H₂O takes more than mixing hydrogen and oxygen. It requires the special conditions found deep within frigid molecular clouds, where dust shields against destructive ultraviolet light and aids chemical reactions. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will peer into these cosmic reservoirs to gain new insights into the origin and evolution of water and other key building blocks for habitable planets.

A molecular cloud is an interstellar cloud of dust, gas, and a variety of molecules ranging from molecular hydrogen (H₂) to complex, carbon-containing organics. Molecular clouds hold most of the water in the universe, and serve as nurseries for newborn stars and their planets.

Within these clouds, on the surfaces of tiny dust grains, hydrogen atoms link with oxygen to form water. Carbon joins with hydrogen to make methane. Nitrogen bonds with hydrogen to create ammonia. All of these molecules stick to the surface of dust specks, accumulating icy layers over millions of years. The result is a vast collection of “snowflakes” that are swept up by infant planets, delivering materials needed for life as we know it. ...

[neufer]

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