Ice detected outside the solar system

Scientists have detected the presence of crystalline water ice outside the solar system for the first time, through an observation made with the James Webb Space Telescope.

The study, led by Johns Hopkins University assistant research scientist Chen Xie, definitively confirms the existence of this element in a solid state in a solar system 155 million light-years from Earth , something astronomers have long suspected based on previous detections of it in gaseous form and its presence in an icy state on nearby planets.

The researchers clarified that the term “water ice” specifies its composition, since many other frozen molecules, such as carbon dioxide or dry ice, are also observed in space, reported the University of Oviedo, which also participated in the study, in a statement cited on Wednesday by the Efe agency.

Water ice was detected in crystalline form, mixed with fine dust, in an active system where icy bodies collide, releasing particles detectable by the James Webb Telescope. In the coldest parts of the disk, ice was found to make up more than 20% of the material observed.

According to the researchers, water ice is a vital ingredient in the disks surrounding young stars, as it greatly influences the formation of giant planets and can be carried by small bodies, such as comets and asteroids, to already formed rocky planets.

Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, a researcher at the University of Oviedo and the Institute of Space Sciences and Technologies of Asturias (ICTEA), participated in this new research and explained that this discovery confirms that “the processes that affect icy bodies at the boundaries of planetary systems may be common in the universe” and emphasized its relevance for understanding the thermal and dynamic history of these systems.