Scientists shed light on the origin of the essential element for our existence.
Unraveling the mysteries of the universe is something that will take humans centuries or millennia, if we manage to do it. Its enormous size and the impossibility of observing all phenomena in situ make the cosmos a place that is always masked. However, thanks to research published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, we have now found information about our Solar System, which explains how the Sun could have a rival in age.
The study of a planetary formation has given us clues about our corner of the universe
And it is that astronomers from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have published a study where affirm that the origins of water can even be tracked before the formation of our star major. To find this astonishing fact, we have to go back to the study of a planetary formation diskV883 Orionis, and the water composition containing. And it is from the formation of planets that we can study the arrival of water to Earth.
📡#BreakingNews ALMA Traces History of Water in Planet Formation Back to the Interstellar Medium. “This means that the water in our Solar System was formed long before the Sun” Merel van ‘t ‘Hoff, astronomer. ⬇️https://t.co/75iW0tma1R
📷: V883 Orionis, a unique protostar. pic.twitter.com/2P2KLtBQbw— ALMA Observatory 📡 (@almaobs) March 9, 2023
When a cloud of dust and gas collapsesstart by forming a star in the middle. The rest of the material is arranged in the form of a disk and over millions of years this material joins forming comets and asteroids, as well as future planets. The work of the scientists has been to use the ALMA observatory to measure chemical signatures of water in V883 Orionis and trace its origin.
In this case, the equipment ha studied a different type of waterwhich does not include hydrogen, but an isotope called deuterium. By studying its formation ratio, in the Solar System it has been possible to demonstrate that the water could have arrived on earth coming from a kite. And here lies the importance of V883 Orionis. According to explains John J. Tobinlead author of the study:
V883 Orionis is the missing link in this case. The composition of the water in the disk is similar to that of the comets of the Solar System. This is confirmation of the idea that water formed in planetary systems billions of years ago, before the Sun, in interstellar space, and that it has been inherited by comets and the Earth.