Webb Finds Clues to Neptune’s Ancient Cataclysm and Reborn Moon System

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Source: Dawn
Webb Finds Clues to Neptune’s Ancient Cataclysm and Reborn Moon System
Photo: Dawn
TL;DR

James Webb Space Telescope observations of Neptune’s inner moons and dusty rings detect clay minerals that require long-term water–rock interactions, implying these moons expose deep interiors from a past catastrophe. The study supports a scenario in which Triton was captured early, disturbing Neptune’s original moons and leaving the current inner moons to form from the resulting debris.

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