Study: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's Water Has Similar Molecular Signature to Earth's Water
Dec 4, 2024 by NASA
Contradicting the results of several recent studies, the new findings reopen the case that Jupiter-family comets like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko could have helped deliver water to Earth.
This false-color four-image mosaic comprises images taken from a distance of 28.7 km from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 3 February 2015. The mosaic measures 4.2 x 4.6 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.
Water was essential for life to form and flourish on Earth and it remains central for Earth life today.
While some water likely existed in the gas and dust from which our planet materialized around 4.6 billion years ago, much of the water would have vaporized because Earth formed close to the Sun’s intense heat.
How Earth ultimately became rich in liquid water has remained a source of debate for scientists.
Research has shown that some of Earth’s water originated through vapor vented from volcanoes; that vapor condensed and rained down on the oceans.
But scientists have found evidence that a substantial portion of our oceans came from the ice and minerals on asteroids, and possibly comets, that crashed into Earth.
A wave of comet and asteroid collisions with the Solar System’s inner planets 4 billion years ago would have made this possible.
More:
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/67p-churyumov-gerasimenko-comet-water-13482.html