Carbon Dioxide Detected In Charon, Pluto's Largest Moon

Scientists just discovered possible signs that carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide are present on the surface of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. This could offer some clues about the origins of the space rock and other celestial objects in the distant solar system.

Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared spectrograph instrument, astronomers at the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) in Boulder, Colorado, gathered new details about Charon's composition. Previous exploration at NASA brought basic information to light about the icy mass, including the fact that it was composed mainly of crystalline water ice, ammonia and several other organic materials.

The latest findings are considered critical since they "highlight insights into the chemical diversity and evolutionary processes on Charon," wrote the team of researchers at SWRI in the results of their study. Those results were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Technically the largest of Pluto's five moons, Charon is actually half the size of its parent planet at about 754 miles wide. The relationship between their relatively similar sizes is unusual, according to NASA, so Pluto and Charon together are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system.

he New Horizons spacecraft has studied the distant moon before, collecting images of Charon in 2015 as it approached a point in its orbit nearest Pluto. Those images revealed a vast tectonic belt stretched across the equator, hinting at a water-ice ocean present long ago, and, notably, a red-toned region at the massive moon's northern pole.

But other fundamental components of Charon's surface evaded detection, as New Horizons could not capture a spectrum of light wavelengths broad enough to tell the space rock's full story.

Learning more about the composition of Pluto's moon could potentially provide insight into Charon's neighbors in the Kuiper Belt, the researchers said. The belt region encompasses the other rings of the solar system, beyond Neptune's orbit, and is home to icy objects like dwarf planets as well as some comets.