Carbon dioxide and amorphous water ices in the debris disk around β Pictoris.

JWST near-infrared spectra of the β Pictoris debris disk detect amorphous water ice (<7% crystallinity) and CO2 ice in both 12CO2 and 13CO2, with CO2 mixed at a 1:10 ratio with water.

• Why it matters: Volatile freeze-out in the outer disk should leave solid ice signatures, but how CO2 and water coexist and distribute in icy dust is unclear.
• What they did: The team used James Webb Space Telescope near-infrared observations to identify spectral features from amorphous water ice and CO2 in the 12CO2 and 13CO2 isotopologues.
• The result: The inferred 1:10 CO2-to-water intimate mixing suggests the ices formed under cold conditions, likely in the interstellar medium, and frequent collisions are needed to maintain a uniform icy dust distribution.

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