The Cosmic Ocean: The Viral Revival of a 12-Billion-Year-Old DiscoveryOur home planet is covered by water with around 71 percent of the surface.
But what if there is a floating water ocean in the space?
cosmic ocean involved two teams of astronomers and three years of research.
The first team, led by Matt Bradford from's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, began their observations in 2008 using a 33-foot telescope in Hawaii.
Scale of the Cosmic Ocean This vast water ocean contains 140 trillion times the amount of water found in all of Earth's oceans combined, the study revealed.
The Cosmic Ocean: The Viral Revival of a 12-Billion-Year-Old Discovery
Our home planet is covered by water with around 71 percent of the surface. Undoubtedly, it is a crucial factor for life on Earth . Hence, space agencies try to explore the factors, including water on other planets in our solar system and others. But what if there is a floating water ocean in the space? Astronomers have rediscovered a massive cosmic reservoir of water, the largest and farthest ever detected. It must be noted that this 12-billion-year-old discovery was initially made over a decade ago, however, it has recently gone viral.
cosmic ocean involved two teams of astronomers and three years of research. The first team, led by Matt Bradford from Nasa The discovery of thisinvolved two teams of astronomers and three years of research. The first team, led by Matt Bradford from's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, began their observations in 2008 using a 33-foot telescope in Hawaii. They followed up with an array of radio dishes in Southern California. The second team, led by Dariusz Lis from Caltech, confirmed the findings using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer in the French Alps.
Scale of the Cosmic Ocean This vast water ocean contains 140 trillion times the amount of water found in all of Earth's oceans combined, the study revealed. Located over 12 billion light-years away, the water surrounds a massive black hole known as a quasar. Quasars are incredibly bright and energetic celestial objects. The water's presence indicates that the quasar is "bathing" the gas in X-rays and infrared radiation, making it unusually warm and dense by astronomical standards.
This discovery highlights the presence of water throughout the universe, even in its earliest stages. Previously, water vapour had never been detected this far back in the universe's history. Although water exists in the Milky Way, most of it is frozen. The quasar's environment demonstrates how water can exist in different forms under varying conditions across the cosmos.