Scientists may have answered a longstanding question about where the water came from.
A new study published in Nature Astronomy postulates that there may have been an additional step to the commonly-held theory that the sun is responsible for the source of water on Earth.
The chemical makeup of carbonaceous asteroids is the root of the initial question about Earth's water. They have a heavier version of the water we have on Earth in deuterium.
The sun is rich in hydrogen. A group of scientists theorize that the winds generated from solar flares may have interacted with the C-type asteroids that hit early Earth.
The lead author of the paper told the school that fine-grained dust buffeted by the solar wind and drawn into the forming Earth billions of years ago could be the source of the missing water.
Along with the Scottish institution, the study was conducted in conjunction with researchers from a number of other schools and organizations.
The study authors wrote in The Conversation that the discovery would have been impossible if they hadn't been given access to three extremely rare pieces of the Itokawa asteroid.
They weren't looking for water, but instead for a new way to study the outer surfaces of the dust particles to see if they have been affected by space weathering.
The paper's co-authors wrote that the discovery of water was very unexpected. The minerals from the asteroid should have been as dry as a bone.
The water on other planets that humans may live on in the distant future could be studied.
It could be crucial information in the coming water wars.
Up to half of Earth's water may come from solar wind and space dust.
Scientists say Ancient Earth was completely covered in water.
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