Methane gas found on dwarf planet Makemake

A dwarf planet far beyond Pluto might have a paper-thin atmosphere

Scientists have detected methane gas glowing faintly above Makemake, an icy dwarf planet smaller and farther than Pluto in space. Until now, Pluto was the only object that far out in the solar system known to have gas. The study, led by the Southwest Research Institute, made the discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope, a joint observatory of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts. The new results could mean Makemake has an ultra-…

Makemake's Secret Finally Revealed

As someone who has lectured for more years than I care to remember and written books about space, I've grown accustomed to constantly rewriting sections as new discoveries emerge. The discovery of the dwarf planet Makemake led to such rewrites, but until now we didn't know much about this elusive world. A team of scientists at the Southwest Research Institute has recently changed that with their detection of methane gas on Makemake using the Jam…

Methane gas found on dwarf planet Makemake

A Southwest Research Institute-led team has reported the first detection of gas on the distant dwarf planet Makemake, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This discovery makes Makemake only the second trans-Neptunian object, after Pluto, where the presence of gas has been confirmed. The gas was identified as methane.

Webb Discovers Methane Gas on the Dwarf Planet Makemake

Astronomers utilizing the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered evidence of gaseous methane on the remote dwarf planet Macemeiki. This finding is detailed in a paper published in the Astrophysics Journal Letter. This discovery challenges the conventional perception of Makemake as a stable, frozen entity. Following Pltune, where gas presence was confirmed, it is [...] The post Webb Discovers Methane Gas on the Dwarf Planet Makem…

Webb Detects Methane Gas on Dwarf Planet Makemake

Reported in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, this discovery challenges the traditional view of Makemake as a quiescent, frozen body and makes it only the second trans-Neptunian object, after Pluto, where the presence of gas has been confirmed. The post Webb Detects Methane Gas on Dwarf Planet Makemake appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.