Science
More than half of the water on our planet is older than the Sun, scientists have found. This discovery may help us search for life in other parts of the universe.
The study found that 30 to 50 percent of the water in our faucets and oceans contains molecules created more than 4.5 billion years ago. This is older than our solar system and the Sun.
Scientists have found that certain water molecules contain a deuterium atom (heavy hydrogen) instead of a hydrogen atom. It could only occur under certain very cold, energetic conditions.
Water on planet Earth
Although life on Earth came from the presence of liquid water, scientists still can't say exactly how or when water came to our planet, or when it formed on its own.
The Earth was born “dry” in a very hot climate. Most experts believe that water came to Earth in the form of ice with comets or asteroids that formed under cooler conditions and later collided with our planet.
Read also: Dry water: a cure for hunger and drought
However, this raises the following question: Where did the water get to comets and asteroids? Researchers believe that perhaps heavier water sprayed over the bodies of the Solar System during the process of the birth of the Sun, or it came from the cloud of gas from which the Sun was born and The solar system.
solar system
During the birth of the Sun, some of the unused cosmic dust collected into the so-called protoplanetary disk, from which the planets of the Solar System later formed.
To find out whether water from the dust cloud could survive and get to Earth, scientists measured the ratio of heavy hydrogen to hydrogen. The results showed that the level of heavy hydrogen on Earth is higher than it should have been on the protoplanetary disk. This means that some of the water precedes the Sun, when there was much more heavy hydrogen.
If water survived the process of star birth, and if other solar systems in the universe formed in a similar way, water could be a common component in the creation of distant planets.
In any case, this could suggest that young planets in the universe may contain water. According to scientists, there are about 11 billion planets outside our solar system that may harbor liquid water and may host life.
How much water is there on Earth and other facts about water
· About 70-75 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water.
· Much more fresh water is stored underground than on its surface.
· Earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, as it rarely loses or gains additional material. The same water that existed millions of years ago is still present on earth.
· There are about 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water on Earth.
· If all the water vapor in the atmosphere fell to Earth and was evenly distributed, it would cover our planet by only 2.5 cm of water.
· The average person drinks about 60,600 litres of water during their lifetime.
· Water is the only substance that is naturally present in three different forms: liquid, solid form (ice), and gas (water vapor).
· At a rate of 1 drop per second, the faucet will flow more than 11 thousand liters of water per year.