What's the Essence of a Planet? Space Dust or Water Vapour

 

Water is an invaluable biomolecule that is an indicator of life. Scientists have long suspected a connection between water and planet formation. However, the proof was hard to come by as there were not enough resources to directly observe water in the birthplaces of planets.

Recently the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope made a breakthrough. For the first time, scientists were able to map the distribution of water vapour in a planet-forming disc around a young star! This breakthrough is a huge step forward in our understanding of the planet formation processes. And now that scientists can prove the presence of water, the age-old question about the universe's potential to harbour life resurfaces.

Imagine a giant, swirling disc of gas and dust around a newborn star. This is a protoplanetary disc, the messy but fertile ground where planets are born. Scientists believe that water plays a key role in this process, but until now, they haven't been able to pinpoint how much water is present and where it's located.

The new ALMA observations reveal more amounts of water vapour in these discs than what was hypothesised. Vapours were also observed around a region where a planet might be forming. This suggests that water could be a key ingredient not just for life, but for the very building blocks of planets themselves.

So, what does this mean for the possibility of life beyond Earth? The presence of water in these young planetary systems is an encouraging sign. It tells us that the ingredients for life as we know it may be more common than we previously thought.

Of course, there are still many unknowns. Just because water is present doesn't guarantee life will form. But this discovery is a vital piece of the puzzle, and it opens exciting new avenues for future research.

As telescopes like ALMA and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) become even more powerful, we can expect to learn even more about the birth of planets and the potential for life throughout the universe. The next time you gaze up at the stars, ponder this: the water you see falling from the sky might have originated in a faraway disc, the birthplace of a new world.

Reference

Researchers find water vapour in disk where planets may be forming [Internet]. Astrobiology.com; 2024 Mar [cited 2024 May 21]. Available from: https://astrobiology.com/2024/03/a-new-link-between-water-and-planet-formation.html#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20found%20water%20vapour,where%20planets%20may%20be%20forming.

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