While the idea of life on other planets is still science fiction, researchers have been able to bring an important fact to the debate regarding the origin of water. Did water come from ice during the formation of the solar system, or did it originate from a swirling disk of interstellar gas and dust that gave birth to the Sun, planets, and moon?
Published in the journal Science, the research shows that some of the water found on Earth, meteorites and lunar craters actually predate the Sun by around a million years.
A team of scientists ran computer models comparing the ratios of hydrogen isotopes over time. According to the ratios, water would have to have been formed before the birth of the solar system to account for the amounts of hydrogen and isotopes found in meteorite and comet samples and even our drinking water.
At least some water would have to have formed in the cold, interstellar cloud that formed the Sun.
"This was an 'aha' moment for us -- without any new water creation the only place these ices could have come from was the chemically rich interstellar gas out of which the solar system formed originally," says Ilse Cleeves, lead study author and doctoral student at the University of Michigan.
Since water is essential for the creation of life, the study suggests that other life may exist somewhere out in space. It is possible that ancient water could be found in young planetary systems in the universe.
"If our sun's formation was typical, interstellar ices -- including water -- are likely common ingredients present during the formation of all planetary systems," Cleeves says. "This is particularly exciting given the number of confirmed extrasolar planetary systems to date -- that they, too, had access to abundant, life-fostering water during their formation."
A study published in the journal Nature revealed another water-related discovery. Clear skies and water vapor were found on a Neptune-sized exoplanet called HAT-P-11b located about 120 light years away, making it the smallest planet known to have water in its atmosphere.
