Water in a Rare Main-Belt Comet? JWST Unveils Solar System Mystery

NASA's JWST revealed a groundbreaking discovery about the true nature of main belt comets. The surprising presence of water in a main belt comet is challenging our understanding of the solar system's origins. The recent study of this enigmatic comet ignited intriguing questions about its composition, history, and potential interstellar origins.

Join Mike Kelley, an astronomer from the University of Maryland, and Dr. Franck Marchis, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, for our next SETI Live. Mike and Franck will discuss the significance of this discovery and the implications for astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life as it connects cometary bodies and the delivery of water and organic molecules to Earth.

Press release: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-123

Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06152-y

Recorded live 8 June 2023.