Supernovas potentially created water essential for early life

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Around 100 million years after the Big Bang, the early universe may have had a surprising presence: water. A new study indicates that supernova explosions, which occur when massive stars die, could have created large amounts of water. This water might have been crucial for the development of life. Supernova explosions release significant quantities of heavy elements like oxygen. When this oxygen mixed with hydrogen in space, it likely formed water molecules. Researchers believe that water could have existed in much higher concentrations in interstellar space than previously thought. The implications of this discovery are profound. It suggests that life could have begun much earlier in the universe than scientists had believed, just a few million years after the Big Bang. This challenges current ideas about how and when life might have emerged in the cosmos. Simulations conducted by researchers show that the powerful explosions of early giant stars may have created the right conditions for water formation. Dense clouds made of hydrogen, oxygen, and other elements could facilitate this process. However, this theory contradicts earlier notions about water's formation in the universe. While these findings are groundbreaking, some challenges remain. The stars involved in creating this water have not been directly observed. Nonetheless, the research opens up exciting new possibilities about the origins of life and the evolution of galaxies in the universe.


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