PDS 70 (artist concept)

This artist concept portrays the star PDS 70 and its inner protoplanetary disc. New measurements from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) have indicated the presence of water vapour in the inner disc of the system PDS 70, located 370 light-years away. This is the first detection of water in the terrestrial region of a disc already known to host two or more protoplanets, one of which is shown at upper right.

[Image description: Left of center, a bright light source illuminates a surrounding disc colored dusky red. The disc is tilted from upper left to lower right, and has spiral features that are most prominent near the star. Small, rocky objects are scattered throughout the inner disc. At upper right, there is a gap through which background stars can be seen. At the outer edge of this gap is gaseous planet. Beyond it, in the top right corner, is additional outer disc material, some of which is falling onto the planet.]