First comet found with ocean-like water
Hartley 2 comes from the Kuiper Belt, a zone that is found near Pluto at the edge of the solar system (image by NASA)
Article Summary
A recent discovery may add support to the theory that the water on Earth was brought by a rain of comets. Scientists have analyzed the comet Hartley 2, and discovered that ice found on it has the same composition as ocean water. The discovery was made utilizing an orbiting telescope on the Herschel Space Observatory, which can observe organic molecules by reading their far-infrared wavelengths.
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