The water was brought to Earth icy comets

World oceans contain more than 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water. Multiply this by several thousand will get the amount they are astronomers have discovered in the universe and to a distance of only 175 light years.

This huge reservoir belongs to the young star TW Hydra, and astronomers believe that this star is not alone in the universe that has a water supply. A team led by researchers from the Netherlands Leiden University is hoping that in the next two years will be able to observe three more water drive.

Scientists are using the super-sensitive infrared technology detected vapor cloud surrounding TW Hydra. Even more interesting was what they could see: water drive means that there is a huge reservoir of water "is enough to fill several thousand of the earth's oceans," according to the journal "Science" which was released to discovery.

Professor of Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam, Carsten Dominik, who has co-authored the article, the Deutsche Welle is a discovery in earthly measures: "If you see an iceberg, you see only its small part. The same concept applies to the universe. Water supplies in the rotating disk is actually located deep below the surface. "Researchers say the comet's icy water is produced in a collision capable of forming new worlds oceans.

When the particles collide

Appeared some questions that the research team had to respond. Professor at the University of Leiden and the Institute "Max Planck" said Erwin van Dishoek Two: Where does our water bodies and oceans and how he arrived on the planet like the Earth?

"We know that the planets formed in the rotating disks of gas and dust around stars and one of the eternal questions is: what are the reservoirs of water that can be found in these disks?"

Dust particles in the cloud are like grains of sand on the beach, only about 10,000 times less. One crash, the growth of square kilometers to the entire planet.

But the disc does not contain only dust but also the water molecules, which are located further from the star, the water inside the disk is cooler. Van Dishoek says that scientists have already noticed the hot water closer to the center but that the water is not necessarily the one that will create a new planetary system. "A sensitive instrument in the observatory of the European Space Agency has enabled them to see the cold water at the edges of the disc.

Van Dishoek frozen water is described as a "zone in which the 'food' new atmosphere or the planet," of the body like the Earth to the so-called. "Water worlds" that giant planets like Jupiter.

Thank technology

Credit for the discovery of the scientists credited with a large capacity unit of the European Space Agency. High Resolution Instrument recognized the steam reservoir with the help of ultraviolet photons, which is released on contact with ice.

"When that happens, they emit radiation that we can discover," explains Carsten Dominik. "We see that the particles act as ice particles in a cloud of dust. Fly around, occasionally collide and unite on this occasion. The more collisions occur, there is more ice comet. "

One theory about the origin of Earth's oceans, these comets were used as transport for water, mostly in the form of ice, into new worlds. Some astronomers represent a different theory: that the asteroids used as a water supplier.

"Very probably, the water came to earth in the form of ice, but it's only a matter of where," says Dominic, adding that both options are possible, and asteroids and icy comets.