ANTARIKSA — The story of the ocean is the history of life. The oceans define our planet Earth, cover most of the earth’s surface and drive the water cycle that dominates our land and atmosphere.
However, water is not only present on our beloved planet. The story of the oceans in a much larger context reaches out into the vast universe, into our solar system and beyond.
Where Does Water Come From?
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The water molecule consists of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen was created in the Big Bang, while oxygen is in the cores of stars more massive than the Sun. Huge amounts of water, in the form of gas, are now in the vast star-forming region of our Milky Way Galaxy.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has peered into the Helix Nebula (a dying star) and discovered water molecules. Hydrogen and oxygen, formed by different processes, combine to form water molecules in the atmosphere ejected from the dying star. That is, the origin of our oceans is in the stars.
Water molecules also exist in the Orion Nebula and are still being formed today. Nebulae are mostly composed of hydrogen gas, while other molecules are relatively rare. According to NASA, the vast Nebula produces enough water daily to fill Earth’s oceans 60 times as much.
Water, along with every other molecule created in the stellar nursery, becomes the raw material for the formation of new planetary systems. Because of this, water molecules are abundant in planetary systems that form around stars.
Water molecules have also been found around the 20 million year old star Beta Pictoris. Huge disks of dust and gas hint at collisions between young comets, asteroids and planets.
How does water get to Earth?
Asteroids and comets are debris left over from the formation of our solar system, and they are rich in water. These tiny objects are time capsules containing tantalizing clues to what our solar system was like 4.5 billion years ago.
Most asteroids orbit the Sun between the planets Mars and Jupiter, but many swing closer to Earth and even cross our orbit. Comets are found in the outermost parts of our solar system, either in the Kuiper Belt just beyond the orbit of Pluto, or in the vast and mysterious Oort Cloud that may extend from the Sun all the way to other nearby stars.
Over billions of years, countless comets and asteroids have collided with Earth thereby enriching our planet with water. Chemical markers in our ocean water show that most of the water came from asteroids. Recent observations hint that ice, and possibly even liquid water, exists in the interiors of asteroids and comets. Source: NASA
Also read:
How Much Water Is on Earth?
How Much Fresh Water Is on Earth?
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