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JWST/NIRSpec spectra are used to analyse the surfaces of Centaurs, revealing two main compositions: those with refractory materials and water ice and those rich in carbon-based materials. Strong surface weathering due to thermal processing may be responsible.

The extensive water plume that originates from Enceladus and extends up to 40 Enceladus radii is mapped and characterized by JWST. Data suggest a sustained and uninterrupted plume activity spanning decades and a surface dominated by crystalline H₂O ice. No other molecules were detected in gaseous form.

JWST and Keck II spectral observations of Saturn’s moon Titan reveal methyl (CH₃) as well as non-local thermodynamic equilibrium emission bands of CO and CO₂. Imaging shows clouds in Titan’s northern hemisphere at several epochs, with some appearing to evolve in altitude.

Due to the limited wavelength coverage of measurements to date, some aspects of the composition of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, remain unresolved. Here, the authors detect carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Charon’s northern hemisphere using JWST data.

The near-infrared spectrometer onboard JWST has detected CO₂ and CO ices on 56 and 29 trans-Neptunian objects, respectively, indicating two dominant compositional types among them. These compositional differences suggest varied formation regions in the protoplanetary disk.

The icy surface compositions, as revealed by JWST, of small bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune can be classified into three groups that can be related to the ice retention lines in the early Solar System, possibly before the planets migrated.

Transmission and emission spectra of the 825 K warm Jupiter WASP-80b taken with the NIRCam instrument of the JWST show strong evidence of CH₄ at greater than 6σ significance

The unusual dark red coloration of Charon’s northern polar cap is shown to be produced from hydrocarbons that are cold-trapped from Pluto’s escaping atmosphere during winter.

To explain the position of the Sputnik Planitia basin on Pluto, the feature would need to have formed via impact and Pluto would need to have a subsurface ocean.

The volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto’s geological activity; this ice layer is organized into cells or polygons, and it is now shown that convective overturn in a several-kilometre-thick layer of solid nitrogen can explain both the presence of the cells and their great width.

A network of parallel ridges on the northwestern border of Sputnik Planitia on Pluto are the traces of debris material deposited by a glaciation of icy nitrogen that happened early in Pluto’s history, and left there once the N₂ ice disappeared by sublimation.