Webb Telescope Discovers Water on Main Belt Comet, Puzzles Scientists

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected water vapor around a comet in the main asteroid belt, indicating that water ice from the early solar system can be preserved in that region. The comet, 238P/Read, is a main belt comet, a fairly new classification of comets that reside in the asteroid belt and periodically display a halo and tail like a comet. The absence of carbon dioxide in the comet has two possible explanations presented by the researchers. Understanding the history of water distribution in the solar system will help us to understand other planetary systems.