Researchers claim to have found the origins of water in the earliest moments of the universe, suggesting that the ingredients for life on Earth were present billions of years earlier than previously thought. According to scientists from the University of Portsmouth, water first formed in the debris of supernova explosions 100-200 million years after the Big Bang.
Computer simulations showed that water would have formed when the first stars in the universe died and collapsed into supernovae, producing oxygen as a byproduct. As this oxygen cooled and mixed with surrounding hydrogen, water was able to form in dense, dusty cores. These core materials are believed to be the source of the material that will eventually form the first planets.
The study’s findings suggest that water has been present on Earth for billions of years longer than previously thought, potentially explaining how it arrived on habitable planets such as our own. The researchers used computer simulations to model two supernova explosions and found that they produced significant amounts of oxygen and water.
This new discovery raises the possibility that the conditions for life might have been met earlier than scientists had previously thought.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14455151/Scientists-origin-WATER-billions-years.html