NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made a significant discovery regarding Comet 238P/Read, a main belt comet located in the asteroid belt. For the first time, astronomers confirmed the presence of water vapor around this comet, suggesting that primordial solar system water ice can be preserved in this warmer region, inside Jupiter’s orbit. This finding helps unravel the mystery of Earth’s water origins. However, an unexpected twist emerged: unlike other comets, Comet Read showed no detectable carbon dioxide, which is typically a major component of cometary gases. Two theories have been proposed for this absence: Comet Read may have lost carbon dioxide over time due to its longer exposure to the warmer asteroid belt, or it may have formed in a region devoid of carbon dioxide. This discovery opens up new avenues for research into the composition of main belt comets and their implications for understanding the early solar system and potentially the development of Earth-like planets. Future investigations are planned to explore whether other main belt comets exhibit similar characteristics, with an ongoing interest in potential sample collection missions to gather further insights. The study was published in the journal Nature.
