Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists have spotted something intriguing around a young star, XUE 10. This star is about 5,550 light-years away, nestled in the star-forming region called NGC 6357. The discovery is noteworthy because it could change our ideas about how planets form.
What’s unusual? The disk of gas and dust around XUE 10 has a high level of carbon dioxide but surprisingly little water. Most protoplanetary disks we’ve seen before are rich in water vapor, especially where rocky planets, like Earth, are thought to form.
Jenny Frediani from Stockholm University highlighted this twist. “Water is so scarce in this system that it’s barely detectable,” she said. This raises important questions about current models of disk chemistry. The balance of carbon dioxide to water is not something we can easily explain with the theories we have.
Typically, scientists believe that as stars grow, they pull in gas and dust. As materials swirl around, they can eventually form planets. In familiar circumstances, icy pebbles drift from colder outer regions of a disk into warmer areas. There, the heat causes ice to vaporize, often resulting in telescopes detecting strong signals of water vapor. But with XUE 10, the signals point more toward carbon dioxide.
According to Arjan Bik, another team member, “The high level of carbon dioxide suggests that strong ultraviolet radiation from the star or nearby stars may be affecting the chemistry in the disk.” This emphasizes a potential shift in how we understand these distant environments and planet formation.
What’s even more interesting is the detection of unusual carbon and oxygen isotopes, which may shed light on the materials found in early solar system debris, such as meteorites.
The research team, led by Maria-Claudia Ramirez-Tannus from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, published their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. They stressed the importance of understanding how extreme radiation can influence the building blocks of planets. “Most stars—and likely most planets—form in radiation-heavy environments,” Ramirez-Tannus explained. Knowing how these factors play out could help us understand the diversity of planetary atmospheres and what conditions might support life.
JWST continues to reveal new insights into space, demonstrating its power to uncover the chemical footprints left in protoplanetary disks.
For more on the JWST and its findings, you can visit NASA’s official page.
