After all, how did water come to Earth? New research leaves scientists closer to discovering

While there are some interesting theories about the origin of water on our planet, the subject is still one of the great challenges of science. But some researchers at Brown University in the United States are a bit closer to finding out how the oceans came to Earth.

Through experiments with a high-powered projectile cannon, research has shown how impacts of water-rich asteroids can provide large volumes for planetary bodies. The research also helps explain the detection of some traces of water on the moon and elsewhere - for example, on one of Saturn's moons, which apparently contains liquid water .
One of the most accepted theories is that water was brought into our world by comets, protoplanets (planets in formation), and other objects that traveled through the Solar System. What was not yet known was when and how it occurred. Some time ago, it was believed that the planet formed rocky, and well after the water came, in frozen comets.

However, a survey a few years ago indicated the possibility that water - and life - on Earth is older than imagined. It was also evident that Earth's water is similar to water bound to carbonaceous asteroids. Thus, these bodies could also have transported the liquid to our planet.

But none of this had been proven, and it was not yet known how the "mechanism" of transportation could have worked.
Now, with new research from Brown University scientists, we have more clues as to how asteroids would have been able to bring the water here, as researcher Terik Daly, who led the research, explains.

The origin and transport of water and volatiles is one of the great questions of planetary science. These experiments reveal a mechanism by which asteroids could supply water to moons, planets, and other asteroids. It is a process that began as the solar system was forming and continues to operate today.

This is because the impact model created with the cannon by researchers indicates that the phenomenon could occur at many of the common impact velocities in the solar system.

Daly and Schultz used in the study projectiles with a composition similar to carbonaceous chondrites, a type of meteorite with high carbon content and derived from old asteroids rich in water. They found that at impact speeds and angles that are common throughout the solar system, up to 30% of the native water in the impactor was trapped in post-impact debris.

This result is interesting because it shows how water can remain in the debris after impacts, despite the friction with the atmosphere, and other things that could evaporate and disperse the water.

But Pete Schultz, co-author of the article, warns that "nature tends to be more interesting than our models, which is why we need to experiment." That is, it is quite possible that things happen in an even more curious way.