A new study asserts that 30 to 50 percent of Earth\u2019s water is older than the sun, the Washington Post reported. The findings could help scientists unravel the mystery behind the source of water on this planet and others.<\/p>\n
By analyzing deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that forms what scientists call \u201cheavy water,\u201d researchers found that water molecules may have been left over from the gaseous cloud that formed the sun. Following the sun\u2019s birth, a protoplanetary disk of matter would have been left behind. Water from this disk likely ended up here on Earth.<\/p>\n
If stars typically form a protoplanetary disk — scientists are pretty sure that\u2019s the case — and if water can be present in any of those disks, then there\u2019s a good chance water exists on plenty of other planets across the universe, the researchers say.<\/p>\n
Image:\u00a0NASA satellite mosaic of Earth (Credit: NASA)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new study asserts that 30 to 50 percent of Earth\u2019s water is older than the sun, the Washington Post reported. The findings could help scientists unravel the mystery behind the source of water on this planet and others. By analyzing deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that forms what scientists call \u201cheavy water,\u201d researchers found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":17742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[131],"class_list":["post-19449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-atmosphere","category-news","tag-solar-system"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\n