Webb detects distinct traces of neon in dusty disk surrounding young Sun-like star

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected distinct traces of the element neon in the dusty disk surrounding the young Sun-like star SZ Chamaelontis (SZ Cha). SZ Cha is surrounded by a disk of dust and gas with the potential to form a planetary system.

In 2008, NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope observed the SZ Chamaeleontis protoplanetary disk. The telescope detected significant neon III - indicating the dominance of extreme ultraviolet light.

However, when Webb followed up on SZ Cha in 2023, it observed typical conditions in the disk. The unusual neon III signature had all but disappeared, indicating the typical dominance of X-ray radiation.

Differences in the neon readings between the two telescopes point to a never-before-observed change in high-energy radiation that reaches the disk, which eventually causes it to evaporate, limiting the time planets have to form, the researchers said.

Researchers attribute the dramatic differences in neon detections to a wind that, when present, absorbs ultraviolet light and leaves X-rays to pummel the disk.

"How did we get here? It really goes back to that big question, and SZ Cha is the same type of young star, a T-Tauri star, as our Sun was 4.5 billion years ago at the dawn of the solar system. The raw materials for Earth, and eventually life, were present in the disk of material that surrounded the Sun after it formed, and so studying these other young systems is as close as we can get to going back in time to see how our own story began," said astronomer Catherine Espaillat of Boston University, in Massachusetts, who led both the 2008 Spitzer observations and the newly published Webb results.

"Once again, the universe is showing us that none of its methods are as simple as we might like to make them. We need to rethink, re-observe, and gather more information. We'll be following the neon signs," he added.

15 years ago, Spitzer saw unusual readings of neon III in a still-developing "solar system." Webb just discovered the abnormal neon III has all but disappeared. Scientists believe clues to our own solar system's past may lie in these flashing neon signs: https://t.co/HfHMRONG8N pic.twitter.com/Qpk2JSPh6V

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) November 15, 2023