Space News: NASA’s Hubble, Webb find far-out solar system objects ‘remember’ past
NASA's Hubble and James Webb telescopes have collaborated to study Trans-Neptunian Objects, revealing new insights into the early stages of planet formation. The study found fewer small objects than expected, suggesting unique evolutionary patterns in the outer solar system.
Why it matters
Understanding these icy bodies helps scientists reconstruct the history of our solar system and the fundamental processes of planetary development.
NASA Hubble Mission Team and Goddard Space Flight Center
For the first time, scientists used the joint power of NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes to study some of the most far-flung bodies in our solar system, Trans-Neptunian Objects, or TNOs.
Some of these are the smallest and faintest ever directly seen. The researchers unexpectedly found fewer small TNOs than they expected, and that the colors of these bodies followed the same relationships as their larger family members.
These objects are typically small, faint, icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond the orbit of Neptune. Most are more than 100 million times dimmer than objects visible to the unaided eye. In two complementary papers published Tuesday in The Astronomical Journal, teams analyzed the color, composition, and size distribution of 27 newly discovered tiny, dim TNOs.
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