The water is present everywhere in the solar system, although not in liquid form â€" the only capable of supporting life. In addition to the terrestrial water, water exists in solid form in the remaining planets, natural satellites, comets and other celestial bodies.
It's been a long time since scientists know that the Earth's water is quite old â€" so much so that life on our planet emerged in aquatic environment. Starting from this premise, a team of scientists at the University of Michigan who studied the origin of water in our solar system concluded that half the water of the system came from tiny particles of big ice molecular cloud from which the solar system originated. This means that most of the water in the solar system and, consequently, of the Earth, is older than the Sun. Additionally, the authors conclude that if the stars like the Sun are frequent, it is possible that there are any other stellar systems with water, which increases the likelihood of there being more life forms.
To reach such conclusions, the research team used computer simulation models that re-created the conditions of the early solar system, based on observations of other solar systems similar to the Sun that are currently in the process of formation. "Studying these astrophysical objects through telescopes super potent and numerical techniques, we can use this information to shape the Protoplanetary environment with great detail," said Ilsedore Cleeves, one of the authors of the study, cites the journal Science.
The details of the remarks become quite technical, but basically scientists have studied the formation of heavy water containing interstellar deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, in place of hydrogen atoms. Heavy water is formed at temperatures below absolute zero, in space environment, where temperatures are lower. As such, this environment promotes the formation of more deuterium-element in the Earth's environment is very rare.
Once the sole system and the Earth were formed from the gases and particles in the same large molecular cloud, heavy water, existing, was incorporated in the new heavenly bodies. As such, the terrestrial oceans, meteorites and comets have large amounts of heavy water. It was through these data that the team was able to simulate the amount of heavy water that could exist at the time of formation of the solar system.
However, a question arose: deuterium levels found in samples were inherited from pre-existing or interstellar gas cloud was formed through chemical reactions in the process of formation of the solar system?
If it is the latter case, how do they explain the scientists, the chemical composition of planets, including water, would be dependent on the type of star where the planet emerges. If the first scenario, all planetary systems would form from a similar set of materials, including the interstellar water.
To answer the question, scientists resorted again to the heavy water of the oceans, comets and meteorites. Analysis of the proportion of deuterium in relation to laboratory-created models for both scenarios showed that Earth's oceans may have between 7% to 50% of heavy water from the interstellar medium. "To identify the ancient heritage of the water on earth we can see that the way in which our solar system formed is not unique and that other planets may have formed in an environment with a lot of water," explains Tim Harries, another researcher who participated in the study. This conclusion raises the possibility of other planets from other systems have ideal conditions and water to give rise to life.
Read More