most water is older than our sun

[DrLeftover]

September 27, 2014

A significant fraction of our solar system’s water is older than than the sun — indicating that abundant, organic-rich interstellar ices should probably be found in all young planetary systems, says pioneering research.

New work from a team, including Conel Alexander from Carnegie Mellon University, found that much of our solar system’s water likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space.

“Why this is important? If water in the early solar system was primarily inherited as ice from interstellar space, then it is likely that similar ices, along with the prebiotic organic matter that they contain, are abundant in most or all proto-planetary disks around forming stars,” Alexander explained.

But if the early solar system’s water was largely the result of local chemical processing during the sun’s birth, then it is possible that the abundance of water varies considerably in forming planetary systems, he pointed out. This would obviously have implications for the potential for the emergence of life elsewhere.

In studying the history of our solar system’s ices, lead researcher L. Ilsedore Cleeves from University of Michigan focused on hydrogen and its heavier isotope deuterium.

The ratio of hydrogen to deuterium in water molecules can tell scientists about the conditions under which the molecules formed.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/earths-water-older-than-the-sun-study/article6450657.ece?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Interesting stuff. Do you think there is an emergence of life elsewhere?

 

[DrLeftover]

Interesting stuff. Do you think there is an emergence of life elsewhere?

Life? Yes.

Intelligent Life? Possibly.

Intelligent Space Going Life that spends its vacations here? Not so sure.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I'm sure there is plant life out there.

I want them to find some animals or humanoids though!