What can the presence of methane on a dwarf planet that orbits farther out than Pluto teach scientists about the formation and evolution of planetary bodies? This is what a recent study accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as an international team of researchers announced a first-time discovery on the dwarf planet Makemake. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand how planetary bodies orbiting so far from the Sun could be presently active. For context, Pluto orbits approximately 40 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun while Makemake orbits approximately 46 AU from the Sun.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data obtained from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which used its powerful infrared instruments to observe Makemake. These observations revealed an active planetary body whose surface contains a myriad of chemical constituents and evidence of gaseous methane. The team proposes that a plume or a thin atmosphere could be responsible for the gaseous methane. As noted, Makemake orbits approximately 46 AU from the Sun, meaning the existence of gaseous methane indicates other processes could be at play with the lack of solar radiation.
Methane data from JWST. (Credit: S. Protopapa, I. Wong/SwRI/STScI/NASA/ESA/CSA)
“While the temptation to link Makemake’s various spectral and thermal anomalies is strong, establishing the mechanism driving the volatile activity remains a necessary step toward interpreting these observations within a unified framework,” said Dr. Ian Wong, who is a staff scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute and a co-author on the study. “Future Webb observations at higher spectral resolution will help determine whether the methane arises from a thin bound atmosphere or from plume-like outgassing.”
Discovered in 2005, Makemake is estimated to be approximately two-thirds the size of Pluto at 890 miles (1,430 kilometers) in diameter. Despite its small size, scientists discovered the dwarf planet has a small moon that was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015.
What new discoveries about Makemake will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: arXiv, EurekAlert!