Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
TNOs, frozen for billions of years, hold untouched secrets of the early solar system’s formation.
Credit: NASA/SwRI/JHU-APL
These distant objects trace the chaotic migrations of Neptune and Uranus in the solar system’s infancy.
Pluto was the first TNO discovered, but thousands more now reveal a complex, hidden world beyond Neptune.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered the first detailed spectral data on TNO surfaces.
TNOs contain unexpected traces of water ice, carbon dioxide, methane, and complex organic molecules.
Representative pic
Webb’s data has divided TNOs into three spectral groups, revealing clues about their origins and evolution.
Cold-classical TNOs remain in their original orbits, preserving an untouched record of planetary formation.
Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger
Webb’s findings suggest some TNOs formed closer to the Sun, then were scattered outward by Neptune’s drift.
Future Webb observations will examine extreme TNOs, binary systems, and objects orbiting beyond interstellar space.