"Using the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the scientists discovered water near the center of the planet-forming disk of gas and dust surrounding PDS 70, in the form of hot vapor at a temperature of about 625 degrees F (330 degrees C). "Our result shows that water is present in the inner disk of this iconic system where planets similar to Earth may be assembling," Perotti said. In our solar system, this central zone is where Earth and the other rocky planets formed. These new findings suggest that any rocky planets originating in PDS 70's central zone would draw from a substantial reservoir of water, improving their changes of habitability later on."
My thoughts, exciting what JWST is showing for some exoplanets studied now. However, all is not so good for dust disks seen with rings and gaps. Do all gaps in protoplanetary discs host planets?,
https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11172
I do note that the PDS 70, 2 exoplanets confirmed now are quite large too.
Phys.org reported. JWST observations find water for the first time in the inner disk around a young star with giant planets,
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-jwst-disk-young-star-giant.html
"...However, scientists have not yet found any planets near the PDS 70 disk center so far. Instead, astronomers detected two gas-giant planets farther out, PDS 70 b and c. They accumulated surrounding dust and gas while orbiting their host star during their growth, creating a wide annular gap almost void of any detectable material. Still, any rocky planets forming in a water-rich environment closer to the star would benefit from a water supply at the beginning of their life cycles. Therefore, in addition to water carried to initially dry rocky planets via a lengthy process involving asteroids as a somewhat random cosmic transport system, this new result opens the door for a potentially sustainable mechanism that provides water to planets already at birth…Since the presence of water was somewhat unexpected, the MINDS team is investigating several scenarios to explain their find. One possibility entails water being a remnant from an initially water-rich nebula preceding the disk stage. Another source might be gas entering from the outer rims of the PDS 70 disk. Under certain circumstances, oxygen and hydrogen gas may combine and form water vapor…The astronomers have already obtained additional observations with ground-based telescopes to complete the picture. In addition, they are eagerly awaiting another set of JWST observations that would deliver detailed images of the inner PDS 70 disk. And perhaps, its structure will reveal hints of additional terrestrial planets or the somewhat larger sub-Neptunes forming inside the water reservoir.”
My note, concerning what is or may not be in the *inner PDS 70 disk*, I say wait and see here. PDS 70 system is very different than our solar system.
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