Asteroid Debris Reveal How Water Reached Earth and Other Planets

Asteroids and comets may not just have delivered water to Earth. It turns out that this delivery may be taking place in many other planetary systems, just like it happened on our own planet.

In this latest study, the researchers examined observations obtained at the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands. This revealed that there was a large quantity of hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf, known as SDSS J1242+5226. The quantities found provide evidence that a water-rich exo-asteroid was disrupted and eventually delivered the water it contained onto the star.

The impact of water-rich asteroids or comets onto a planet or white dwarf results in the mixing of hydrogen and oxygen into the atmosphere. Both elements were detected in large amounts in the newly-examined white dwarf.

"Oxygen, which is a relatively heavy element, will sink deep down over time, and hence a while after the disruption event is over, it will no longer be visible," said Boris Gansicke, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In contrast, hydrogen is the lightest element; it will always remain floating near the surface of the white dwarf where it can easily be detected. There are many white dwarfs that hold large amounts of hydrogen in their atmospheres, and this new study suggests that this is evidence that water-rich asteroids or comets are common around other stars than the sun."

These findings reveal that asteroids and comets may actually deliver water around the universe to various planets and white dwarfs. This is especially important to note when it comes to the hunt for life on other worlds.

The findings are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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