How Water Came To The Earth

 

On the Winds of the Sun

Past research has shown that meteorites and asteroids that hit Earth during its formation more than four billion years ago were rich in water.

However, this extraterrestrial water contained a heavier form of hydrogen called deuterium, which has prompted speculation there might have been another source of water.

Recently, a research team discovered that solar winds played a major role in delivering water to our planet, New Scientist reported.

In a new study, lead author Luke Daly and his colleagues studied a single grain of material collected from the asteroid Itokawa by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa in 2010. They wrote that the space rock had been irradiated by particles in the solar winds, which turned a small amount of each grain into water.

Because solar winds are mainly comprised of hydrogen ions, they combine with the oxygen atoms in the asteroid rock to produce water.

The researchers also suggested that since the early solar system was rife with dust particles, the solar winds would have converted them into water – which had less deuterium – that later came down to Earth.

“You could produce Earth’s oceans by mixing those two reservoirs together,” said Daly.

He noted that the findings could be used to study other asteroids in the future and could have implications for space exploration.

“Every rocky surface will have small grains that have been irradiated by solar wind,” he added. “If we want to put up permanent human habitation facilities on other worlds, you could look at the [dust] as a way of producing water.”