• Question: How does water get on uninhabited planets?

    Asked by james739 to Jen on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Jen Gupta

      Jen Gupta answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      This is a really good question. We think that there is water on the Earth because the Earth was hit by lots of comets and asteroids early on in its life when it first formed. Comets are mainly made up of ice so water would have been deposited on the Earth by these comets. I would guess that water got onto the Moon and other planets in the same way. However I think water on the Moon and Mars would be frozen and not liquid. This isn’t my area of expertise though 🙂

      If you’re wondering where water came from in the first place, all elements that are heavier than hydrogen and helium were formed in supernovae – massive explosions that happen when a heavy star dies. So the oxygen in water must have come from these supernovae.

Comments