Image: NASA
Where did our oceans come from? Why is over 70% the earth’s surface covered by water? The answer may be in the dirty celestial snow balls we call comets.
Scientists believe that the earth was originally dry and hot. Comets where one possible source of water. Until recently, however, the water in comets was thought to be fundamentally different from the water in our oceans. Scientists observed higher levels of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, found in what is known as “heavy water” in comets. The water in the earth’s oceans is almost exclusively made of lighter hydrogen. Last week, however, the results of observations made on the comet Hartley 2 were announced which which suggested that the water on the comet has a similar deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio as the water found in our oceans. Comets may be the source of the water in our oceans after all.
Earth’s Water Originated From Comets?
And now this week, scientists have observed what they believe to be a storm of comets smashing into an object which may be planet, circling the star, Eta Corvi, about 60 light years or 400 trillion miles away. If their observations are confirmed they may be observing the beginning of new oceans on a distant planet.