Hubble and Webb telescopes find 27 icy objects beyond Neptune
Astronomers discovered previously unknown trans-Neptunian objects that may preserve clues about how planets formed billions of years ago.
Astronomers have identified 27 previously unknown objects beyond Neptune using NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, according to a report by ThePrint.
These small, icy bodies are trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) that orbit the Sun in regions such as the Kuiper Belt. The research findings were published in two companion papers in The Astronomical Journal on 8 September.
The research teams used Hubble to view visible light and the Webb telescope to capture infrared light from the same area. This combined approach allowed scientists to determine the orbits, sizes, and colours of the objects.
The study identified two groups:
cold
TNOs that maintain circular orbits, and
hot
TNOs that have elongated orbits. Researchers found that smaller objects maintained similar colour patterns to larger ones, suggesting their surfaces have not been significantly altered by collisions.
Anastasia Morgan of Northern Arizona University, who led the study on colour and composition, told NASA that the smallest objects appear to be
remembering
and preserving the history of their creation.
A second study noted that the two populations have similar size distributions, though fewer very small objects were found than some models predicted. Webb detected objects as small as approximately five kilometres across.