NASA's Webb telescope detects traces of carbon dioxide on the surface of Pluto's largest moon
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has identified new clues about the surface of Pluto’s largest moon
By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN
Published - Oct 01, 2024, 11:00 AM ET
Last Updated - Dec 16, 2024, 06:44 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) — NASA's Webb Space Telescope has identified new clues about the surface of Pluto's largest moon.
It detected for the first time traces of carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Charon, which is about half Pluto's size.
Previous research, including a flyby from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015, revealed that the moon's surface was coated by water ice. But scientists couldn't sense chemicals lurking at certain infrared wavelengths until the Webb telescope came around to fill in the gaps.
“There's a lot of fingerprints of chemicals that we otherwise wouldn't get to see,” said Carly Howett, a New Horizons scientist who was not involved with the new study.
