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 The Origins of Water on Earth
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Untitled Document
 For
decades, scientists have
argued about where water
came from. Now, German researchers believe they have found the origins of our beloved H2O. The Earth is a unique planet because it has water.
For life to exist on a planet, water
is a necessity. Water is probably the most essential thing human bodies
need. Many animals, especially humans, can go
a couple months without food, but won’t last longer than a week without
water. So where does water come from?
Comets, or dirty snowballs from space, are
believed to be the source of Earth’s water.
The Deep Impact / EPOXI spacecraft discovered a comet containing water similar to that found on
Earth. The comet, Hartley 2, was found near the Kuiper belt, a region in our solar system located beyond Neptune.
“When the Earth was first formed, it was so hot and volatile that all water escaped into space. When
the Earth started to cool down and become dry,
water started to stay put,” said Paul Hartogh,
the lead researcher of the project. “Water and other volatiles must
have been delivered at a later stage.”
 When
comets are traveling and flying in space, they are mostly made of ice. And ice
is just frozen water. So, comets
were obvious candidates when investigating
where our water comes from. In the past, there were many who disagreed that water came
from comets. The chemical makeup of liquid in most comets is
different from that found in Earth’s water. However, the water found
in Hartley 2 was very similar to the makeup found in our planet’s
water. Hartogh concludes that the oceans, seas, and other bodies
of water came from comets like Hartley 2. |
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안녕하세요.
