NASA's Webb Space Telescope finds water around mysterious main belt comet

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has helped astronomers find gas around a comet in the main asteroid belt for the first time. 

In a release, the agency said the water vapor was confirmed using the observatory's Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument. 

The findings indicate that water ice from the early solar system – which formed about 4.5 billion years ago – can be preserved in that region. 

However, unlike in other comets, scientists said Comet 238P/Read had no detectable carbon dioxide.

NASA’S JUNO SPACECRAFT WILL FLY BY JUPITER'S VOLCANIC MOON IO

"Our water-soaked world, teeming with life and unique in the universe as far as we know, is something of a mystery – we’re not sure how all this water got here," Stefanie Milam, Web...