NEW YORK: A study of ancient molecular clouds in our home galaxy Milky Way has made astronomers conclude that the reservoir of water in our universe existed much before than originally thought. To be more precise, the universe used to be filled with water just a billion years following Big Bang.
According to experts, the biggest challenge faced by water formation, which is a molecule containing a couple of hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, is that all elements heavier than helium had to be formed within the cores of the stars and not by Big Bang.
The oldest stars required a lot of time for formation; they also needed additional time for getting matured and some more time before they finally died. So, heavy elements such as oxygen emerged from the star’s furnace after the star was formed.
Keeping this entire process and the delay caused by it in mind, and considering that the oxygen atoms will take some more time for dispersing all through the cosmos and attaching to hydrogen, astronomers have long assumed that water (H2O) appeared in the universe quite late.
However, a recent research is suggesting that water reservoirs in the universe are much older than originally thought. Astronomers involved in the said study are saying that water formation took place just a billion years after the birth of our universe.
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