First supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water

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https://www.livescience.com/space/cosmology/1st-supernovas-may-have-flooded-the-early-universe-with-water-making-life-possible-just-100-million-years-after-the-big-bang?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=Space%20Audience

The first supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water — making life possible just 100 million years after the Big Bang

Published January 23, 2025

A new study suggests that the explosive deaths of the universe's earliest stars created surprising quantities of water that may have sparked extraterrestrial life in the very first galaxies

New simulations suggest that the universe's first supernovas could have created surprisingly large quantities of water (attached image credit: Getty Images).

When the cosmos' first stars exploded in spectacular supernovas, they may have unleashed enormous amounts of water that flooded the early universe — and potentially made life possible just millions of years after the Big Bang, new simulations suggest.

However, this theory clashes with our current understanding of cosmic evolution and will be extremely difficult to prove.

Water is one of the most abundant compounds in the universe, according to NASA. Aside from Earth, astronomers have found water in several places throughout the solar system, including scattered above and below the surface of Mars, inside the ice caps of Mercury, surrounding the shells of comets and buried in underground oceans on several major moons.

Outside our cosmic neighborhood, researchers have also detected water on distant exoplanets and within massive clouds of interstellar gas that permeate the Milky Way.

Researchers believe the water would have formed at the center of dense clouds of material expelled by the exploding stars. (Image attached -- credit: Getty Images)

If correct, the new findings would have big implications for scientists' understanding of galaxy evolution and extraterrestrial life.

Researchers believe the water would have formed at the center of dense clouds of material expelled by the exploding stars. (Attached image credit: Getty Images)

If correct, the new findings would have big implications for scientists' understanding of galaxy evolution and extraterrestrial life.


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