--- title: "The James Webb Telescope Just Made a Fascinating Discovery About Pluto’s Huge Icy Moon" description: "Using readings from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected chemicals on the surface of Charon, Pluto's largest moon." date: "2024-10-02" modified: "2024-10-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-pluto-charon-chemicals" categories: - "Astronomy" - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "charon" - "james webb space telescope" - "Pluto" - "the digest" --- # The James Webb Telescope Just Made a Fascinating Discovery About Pluto’s Huge Icy Moon ![Using readings from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected chemicals on the surface of Charon, Pluto's largest moon.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Chemical Makeup Artist Using new readings from NASA's powerful James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have [detected previously unknown chemicals]() on the surface of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. The powerful space telescope was able to peer under the ice [discovered on Charon nearly a decade ago]() to detect carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the moon, an intriguing discovery that offers us a tantalizing glimpse into its distant past. Back in 2015, NASA's [New Horizons spacecraft flew by Charon](), snapping pictures of its unusual, reddish hue. Until Webb came along, scientists were not able to get a deeper look at the moon's chemical composition due to the technical limitations of previous telescopes. Between 2022 and 2023, scientists used James Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph to get a full-coverage portrait of the moon's makeup and confirmed the presence of water ice and organic materials responsible for its red color on Charon's surface. "The advanced observational capabilities of Webb enabled our team to explore the light scattered from Charon's surface at longer wavelengths than what was previously possible, expanding our understanding of the complexity of this fascinating object," explained Ian Wong of the Space Telescope Science Institute, who co-authored a new paper on the findings [published in the journal *Nature Communications*](), in a [statement](). ## Bottom's Up The telescope's spectrographic readings of Charon were detailed enough to allow the multi-institutional team to come up with theories as to how each chemical ended up on the moon's icy surface. "Our preferred interpretation is that the upper layer of carbon dioxide originates from the interior and has been exposed to the surface through cratering events," explained lead author and Southwest Science Institute TK Silvia Protopapa. "Carbon dioxide is known to be present in regions of the protoplanetary disk from which the Pluto system formed." The hydrogen peroxide, meanwhile, could have been the result of ultraviolet solar light interacting with energetic particles from cosmic rays — though even that finding seems to point to a new discovery. Coauthor and planetary scientist Ujjwal Raut said that the team's experiments "were instrumental in demonstrating that hydrogen peroxide can form even in mixtures of carbon dioxide and water ice under conditions analogous to those at Charon." As always, the [JWST is proving just how powerful it is]() — and how much more there is for us to discover about Pluto's five moons. **More on Webb observations:** [*Scientists Spot Giant Black Hole Destroying Galaxy*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()