Water ice in the debris disk around HD 181327.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40369138.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41586-025-08920-4.
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Abstract
Debris disks are exoplanetary systems that contain planets, minor bodies (asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets and so on) and micrometre-sized debris dust<sup>1</sup>. Because water ice is the most common frozen volatile, it plays an essential role in the formation of planets<sup>2,3</sup> and minor bodies. Although water ice has been commonly found in Kuiper belt objects and comets in the Solar System<sup>4</sup>, no definitive evidence for water ice in debris disks has been obtained to date<sup>1</sup>. Here we report the discovery of water ice in the HD 181327 debris disk using the near-infrared spectrograph onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. We detected the solid-state broad absorption feature of water ice at 3 µm including a distinct Fresnel peak at 3.1 µm, which is indicative of large, crystalline water-ice particles. Gradients in the water-ice feature as a function of stellocentric distance reveal a dynamic environment in which water ice is destroyed and replenished. We estimated the water-ice mass fractions as ranging from 0.1% at approximately 85 au to 21% at approximately 113 au, indicating the presence of a water-ice reservoir in the HD 181327 disk beyond the snow line. The icy bodies that release water ice in HD 181327 are probably the extra-solar counterparts of water-ice-rich Kuiper belt objects in our Solar System.