8 comments

[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 45.4 ms ] thread
This would make these excellent JWST targets: a hazy dispersed atmosphere of water should show up clearly in the IR.
(comment deleted)
(comment deleted)
Nice guerrilla marketing, James Cameron.
I am more than tired of science journalism. The title is false and is contradicted by the subtitle and second paragraph! In that no, these are not the first water worlds we've discovered. And the author knows that since they directly compare to Europa in the subtitle and second paragraph. Infuriating to say the least. I've gotten accustomed to reading of firsts to just assume that whatever is being reported actually happened first decades ago.
I guess that depends on your definition of “world.” For me, that would be a planet, not a moon.
> In that no, these are not the first water worlds we've discovered. And the author knows that since they directly compare to Europa in the subtitle and second paragraph.

As explained in subsequent sentences/paragraphs, these are different from Europa in that they very likely have liquid water surfaces rather than being encased in ice. That's what makes them water worlds instead of ice worlds.