詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（JWST）在矮行星冥王星和土星的最大卫星泰坦（土卫六）表面侦测到了一种神秘的化学特征，该特征与目前所有已知的光谱数据库均不相符。研究人员在泰坦和冥王星上均发现了中心值为5.113微米的吸收带，并排除了解析校准或技术错误的可能性，这表明该处存在一种尚未被鉴定或研究过的特殊化合物或混合物。

尽管泰坦与冥王星相距数十亿公里且环境截然不同，泰坦拥有浓密的大气层与液态甲烷湖泊，而冥王星仅有极稀薄的大气与氮冰表面，但两者都存在由太阳辐射与宇宙射线驱动的复杂有机化学反应。科学家认为，这种共同的化学演化历程可能是产生此神秘光谱特征的关键原因，也是行星科学界亟待探究的新课题。

为了解开这个谜团，科学家需要透过韦伯望远镜进行更多观测，并在实验室中重现这两个冰冷世界的化学环境。此外，美国太空总署（NASA）即将探索泰坦表面的「蜻蜓号」（Dragonfly）任务，其搭载的化学实验室有望协助鉴定潜在的候选化合物，从而揭开这个外太阳系中最引人入胜的化学谜题。

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a mysterious chemical signature on the surfaces of the dwarf planet Pluto and Saturn's largest moon, Titan, which does not match any compound recorded in existing spectroscopic databases. Researchers identified an absorption band centered at 5.113 micrometers on both worlds and ruled out calibration or technical errors, suggesting the presence of an unidentified compound or a mixture never studied in laboratories.

Despite being separated by billions of kilometers and having vastly different physical conditions—Titan possessing a thick atmosphere with liquid methane lakes and Pluto having an extremely tenuous atmosphere with an icy surface—both worlds exhibit complex organic chemistry driven by solar radiation and cosmic rays. Scientists believe this shared chemical history could explain the origin of the mysterious spectroscopic signature, presenting a new fundamental question for planetary science.

Solving this puzzle will require further observations from the JWST and laboratory experiments to recreate the chemical environments of these two icy worlds. Additionally, NASA's upcoming Dragonfly mission to explore Titan's surface, equipped with an onboard chemistry laboratory, is expected to help identify candidate compounds and resolve one of the most intriguing mysteries raised by the JWST about the outer solar system.