The James Webb Space Telescope has detected water vapor in the inner disk of the PDS 70 system, an area less than 160 million kilometers from the system’s star, revealing significant insights into the potential formation of rocky, terrestrial planets. This finding marks the first time water has been identified in the terrestrial region of a disc that already hosts two or more protoplanets. Situated about 370 light-years away, the PDS 70 system is composed of an inner and outer disk of gas and dust, separated by an 8 billion-kilometer gap. Nested within this vast gap are two known gas-giant … Continue reading Rains and Vapors in the Cosmos: James Webb Telescope Detects Water Vapor in an Unlikely Place