New research recently showed that solar winds that interact with grains of dust carried on asteroids may have contributed to filling the oceans on Earth with water.
Specifically, a CTV News report said, the new study has suggested that a portion of the water on earth may have come from what the researchers described as a "surprising source," which is the sun.
Water's origin on Earth has long been strongly debated among geologists and astronomers. Additionally, water originally appeared roughly 4.5 billion years ago and is vital to all life on this planet.
Some researchers have suggested that asteroids or comets filled with water may have hit the earth. Others, on the other hand, believe that water may have come inside this planet, itself.
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The 'New Solar Wind Theory'
In their study, published in the Nature Astronomy journal, the researchers analyzed water and dust from the asteroid Itokawa using an atom probe device that enabled them to develop 3D imaging and measurements of individual atoms. They also discovered evidence of water derived from the solar winds.
In a news release, Phil Bland, co-author of the study, said this "new solar wind theory" is grounded on a meticulous atom-by-atom investigation of minuscule remains of an "S-type near-Earth asteroid called Itokawa, specimens of which were gathered by Hayabusa, a Japanese space probe, and returned to Earth in 2010.
The Itokawa's dust grains' surface comprised enough water that, if scaled up, would amount to approximately 20 liters for each cubic meter of rock.
Bland says previous hypotheses have proposed that water may have been brought to earth on asteroids. However, the previous testing of water on such asteroids showed that their "fingerprints" did not match the water discovered on Earth.
The study's co-author also explained that the said finding meant that there was at least "one other unaccounted source."
Hydrogen and Water Found
A ScienceAlert report specified that measuring all around the particles, including the parts concealed from the sun, the researchers discovered hydroxide and water "enriched in the rims of all sides."
It suggests the hydrogen ions of the sun were embedded into the rock, storing water where it cannot be touched.
Essentially, the depth at which such life-giving elements were discovered was what scientists would expect from hydrogen ions that penetrate silicate materials.
To Benefit Astronauts for Future Space Mission
Bland also explained that their study suggests the solar wind created water on the tiny dust grains' surface, and this "isotopically lighter water" possibly provided the remainder of the water on Earth.
Such findings could also mean that water may be present on the moon, as well as other airless worlds all over the galaxy. This knowledge could be helpful to astronauts for space missions in the future.
According to the study's lead author, Luke Daly, the new research shows that the same process for space weathering, which created water on Itokawa, possibly occurred on other airless planets.
He elaborated that this means that astronauts may process freshwater supplies straight from the dust on the surface of a planet, like a moon.
The lead author also said that one of the barriers to space exploration in the future is how astronauts would get adequate water.
Related information about the solar wind and its effect on Earth is shown on MrTomcribeiro's YouTube video below:
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