[NASA] Webb Finds Icy Disk

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NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

This artist’s concept illustration, released on May 14, 2025, shows a Sun-like star encircled by a disk of dusty debris containing crystalline water ice. Astronomers long expected that frozen water was scattered in systems around stars. By using detailed data known as 

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, researchers confirmed the presence of crystalline water ice — definitive evidence of what astronomers expected. Water ice is a vital ingredient in disks around young stars — it heavily influences the formation of giant planets and may also be delivered by small bodies like comets and asteroids to fully formed rocky planets.

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Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

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