JWST finds clay minerals on Neptune's moons — wreckage of shattered ancient worlds

The James Webb Space Telescope detected clay-like minerals on Neptune's moons Larissa and Galatea, as well as in the planet's rings — minerals that form in the presence of liquid water, yet the moons show no obvious water ice. Researchers believe the material originated deep inside much larger icy moons that were shattered when Triton was gravitationally captured by Neptune. The discovery suggests Neptune's inner moon system is the wreckage of an ancient cosmic catastrophe.

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