(ORDO NEWS) — The next time you reach for a glass of water, you might want to think about its original origins. A new study suggests that more than 50% of Earth‘s water may be older than the solar system itself.
An experiment led by Ilse Cleeves of the University of Michigan may finally end the debate about how our planet and water in the solar system formed.
There are two theories regarding this issue: the molecules in comet ices and Earth’s oceans were born inside the solar system, or water originated much earlier in the cold molecular cloud that gave birth to the solar system.
According to Cleaves agree with the latter hypothesis. He believes that 30-50% of water came from a molecular cloud, making it about a million years older than the solar system.
To reach these conclusions, Cleaves and astronomy professor Ted Bergin created a model that showed how the solar system formed. They focused on the ratio of two slightly different types of water – a regular kind and a heavier version.
The model showed that the Earth received water from some unknown source, which was cold and tens of degrees above absolute zero.
“We let the chemistry run for a million years and found that the chemistry in the disk was inefficient at producing heavy water throughout the solar system,” Cleaves said.
“This means that if the planetary disk did not create water, then it inherited it.
Therefore, some of the water in the solar system precedes the formation of the sun.”
Thanks to this study, scientists have expanded their understanding of how much water exists in the galaxy and in individual star systems.
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