Latest news with #DanielWhalen
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The universe's water is almost as old as the Big Bang itself, shocking new study hints
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Water may have emerged in the universe far earlier than scientists thought — and it could mean that life could be billions of years older too, new research suggests. Water is one of the most essential ingredients for life as we know it. But exactly when water first appeared has been a question of scientific interest for decades. Now, new research suggests that water likely existed 100 million to 200 million years after the Big Bang — billions of years earlier than scientists previously predicted. The research was published March 3 in the journal Nature Astronomy. The early universe was dry because it was mainly filled with very simple elements, like hydrogen, helium and lithium. Heavier elements didn't develop until the first stars formed, burnt through their fuel supplies and ultimately exploded. Such stellar explosions, known as supernovas, acted like pressure cookers that combined lighter elements into increasingly heavier ones. "Oxygen, forged in the hearts of these supernovae, combined with hydrogen to form water, paving the way for the creation of the essential elements needed for life," study co-author Daniel Whalen, an astrophysicist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., said in a statement. Related: 32 strange places scientists are looking for aliens To determine when water first appeared, the researchers examined the most ancient supernovas, called Population III supernovas. Whalen and his team looked at models of two types of these early star remnants: core-collapse supernovas, when a large star collapses under its own mass; and pair-instability supernovas, when a star's interior pressure suddenly drops, causing a partial collapse. The researchers found that shortly after the Big Bang, both supernova types produced dense clumps of gas that likely contained water. RELATED STORIES —Astronomers identify a celestial '3-body problem' lurking in the outer solar system —'This doesn't appear in computer simulations': Hubble maps chaotic history of Andromeda galaxy, and it's nothing like scientists expected —Unproven Einstein theory of 'gravitational memory' may be real after all, new study hints Overall, the amount of water in these gas clouds was probably pretty small — but it was concentrated in the areas where planets and stars were most likely to form, the team found. The earliest galaxies probably arose from these regions, which means that water may have already been in the mix when they formed. "This implies the conditions necessary for the formation of life were in place way earlier than we ever imagined — it's a significant step forward in our understanding of the early Universe," Whalen said. Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, which is designed to view the universe's oldest stars, may help further validate these results.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Water Formed Much Sooner After the Big Bang Than We Thought, Scientists Say—Which May Mean Life Did, Too
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." It is now thought that water first formed in space only 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang—billions of years earlier than previous estimates. Simulations showed that oxygen created by primordial stars first fused with hydrogen in space when those stars exploded into supernovae. Planets that emerged from the molecular clouds left behind by those early supernovae might have had habitable conditions because of the presence of water in those clouds. Life (at least as we know it) requires water. Maybe there are life-forms out there that can survive without it, but so far, nobody knows what may be creeping around on distant exoplanets. So, as far as we know for sure, that first statement stands. And because of that, the earlier water appeared in space, the earlier life could have hypothetically crawled out of somewhere. Now, a team of researchers—led by astrophysicist Daniel Whalen of the University of Portsmouth in England—has found that the first molecules of water may have formed billions of years before we thought they did. By running simulations of the early universe, Whalen showed that water could have been created by nuclear fusion in the cores of the oldest dying stars only 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang. Few elements survived the intensity of the Big Bang. The lighter elements that did make it were hydrogen (one component of water), helium, lithium, and scant traces of barium and boron. Water, then, actually came from stars. Population III stars—also known as Pop III stars or primordial stars—are the oldest stars in the universe, and have still eluded even our most powerful telescopes. Before they burned themselves out and exploded into supernovae, there was no oxygen in the universe. And water cannot exist without oxygen. 'Primordial supernovae were the first nucleosynthetic engines in the universe, and they forged the heavy elements required for the later formation of planets and life,' Whalen and his team said in a study recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy. While even the supernovae of Pop III stars are so ancient that none have been detected, simulations of two possible types of primordial supernovae (core-collapse and pair-instability supernovae) showed how water was likely synthesized in the nascent universe. After massive stars (over 10 solar masses) have fused all their hydrogen nuclei in their cores into helium, fused their helium into heavier elements, and fused some of those into even heavier elements, they explode into supernovae. Both core-collapse and pair-instability supernovae eject heavier elements, including oxygen, into space (though, a pair-instability supernova produces much higher amounts of those elements). Whalen's simulations showed that huge molecular clouds formed in the supernova aftermath. As these clouds expanded and then cooled, oxygen in the haloes of the clouds reacted with hydrogen to create water. Later, much more water formed in the clouds' dense core. Stars and planets are thought to be born in protoplanetary disks that take shape in the superdense gas of molecular cloud cores, which means it is possible that the water present in those clouds might have given some early planets habitable conditions. That said, there are, of course, many other factors that determine habitability. How the earliest planets were affected by cosmic radiation and other factors remains unknown. '[Water was] highly concentrated in the only structures capable of forming stars and planets,' Whalen said in a press release. 'And that suggests that planetary disks rich in water could form at cosmic dawn, before even the first galaxies.' If water finds a way, maybe life does, too. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Water appeared in universe not long after Big Bang, say scientists
Over 1,000 quintillion litres of water exist on Earth, mostly making up the huge oceans that cover the surface, but when did water first appear in our universe?Well a new study suggests this important resource formed 200-400 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe formed, which is thought to have happened 14 billion years ago. This is a lot earlier than previously thought. Dr Daniel Whalen from Portsmouth University and co-authors published their findings in the journal Nature Astronomy. Using computer simulations the researchers created the explosions of two the virtual supernovae - the name for when a star explodes - the temperatures were found to be high enough to turn the former star gases into Oxygen. This gas then cooled and mixed with another gas hydrogen which formed water. Scientists say their discovery shows that habitable worlds could have formed billions of years earlier than previously thought. They also say the simulations show that water was a key part of the first galaxies and that the amount formed then is only a tenth of what is seen in the galaxy today.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space breakthrough as study finds 'key ingredient for life' existed billions of years before we first thought
Water, the key ingredient for life, likely formed just after the Big Bang - suggesting it has been around billions of years longer than previously thought. A new study has suggested that water came long before galaxies, 'seeding' the formation of planets – and transforming scientists' understanding of how life began. A team of scientists from the University of Portsmouth have revealed that water already existed in the universe 100 to 200-million years after the Big Bang, the massive explosion that launched space, time and matter 13.8 billion years ago. READ MORE: I took my local non-league side to League Two on Football Manager - now I'm their chairman READ MORE: Scientist's 'reality check' warning as common diet trend might do more harm than good In the first study of its kind, researchers modelled the water in the primordial universe – the extremely hot, dense and chaotic state of the cosmos just after the Big Bang. Their findings suggest that habitable planets could have started forming much sooner than previously thought, thanks to early cosmic explosions. According to the simulations, water molecules began forming shortly after the first supernova explosions, which are known as Population III (Pop III) supernovae. These cosmic events were 'essential' for creating elements like oxygen, which are essential for water, according to the study's leader Dr Daniel Whalen, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. Dr Whalen said: 'Before the first stars exploded, there was no water in the Universe because there was no oxygen. Only very simple nuclei survived the Big Bang - hydrogen, helium, lithium and trace amounts of barium and boron. Oxygen, forged in the hearts of these supernovae, combined with hydrogen to form water, paving the way for the creation of the essential elements needed for life." The research team studied two types of exploding stars: core-collapse supernovae, which generate some heavy elements, and the more powerful Pop III supernovae, which blast huge amounts of metals into space. They found that both types formed 'dense clumps' of gas enriched with water. Although early supernovae produced only a small amount of water, it was packed into dense gas clouds known as cloud cores, Dr Whelan explains. This is where stars and planets are believed to form. Dr Whalen said: 'The key finding is that primordial supernovae formed water in the Universe that predated the first galaxies. So water was already a key constituent of the first galaxies. This implies the conditions necessary for the formation of life were in place way earlier than we ever imagined - it's a significant step forward in our understanding of the early Universe." He added: 'Although the total water masses were modest, they were highly concentrated in the only structures capable of forming stars and planets. And that suggests that planetary discs rich in water could form at cosmic dawn, before even the first galaxies.' The study, a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and the United Arab Emirates University. was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Water May Have Come Into Existence Far Earlier Than We Ever Realized
Life's most vital elixir may have formed within 200 million years of the Big Bang, new research suggests. Conditions for producing water were thought to be lacking this early on because heavier elements like oxygen were scarce, but new simulations indicate the baby Universe could still have been wet. Cosmologist Daniel Whalen from Portsmouth University in the UK and colleagues virtually recreated the explosions of two stars using early Universe parameters, and found the means to make water were already present as early as 100 million years after the Universe exploded into existence. The video below illustrates gases of hydrogen, helium, and lithium from the Big Bang coalescing into the first stars, releasing heavier elements like oxygen into the Universe during their explosive deaths: "Our simulations suggest that water was present in primordial galaxies because of its earlier formation in their constituent haloes," the researchers write in their paper. Today, highly metallic stars have an abundance of oxygen in their cores, but the first stars were made almost entirely out of hydrogen and helium. These early stars likely burnt hot and fast, making it hard for astronomers to catch traces of them, but new data from JWST may have just revealed the first direct evidence of their existence. Whalen and team simulated the explosion of these early stars, one that was 13 times and another 200 times the mass of our Sun. Within the first second of the virtual supernovae, the temperatures and pressures were high enough to fuse more of the former star gases into oxygen. In the aftermath of this cataclysm, the expelled energized gases, stretching out as far as 1,630 light-years, began to cool. The rapid cooling happened faster than the material coalesced, causing ionized hydrogen molecules to pair up, forming water's other key ingredient: molecular hydrogen (H2). As these particles jostled about, particularly in the denser regions of the supernova haloes, oxygen collided with enough hydrogen to make the Universe wet. What's more, these denser clumps of supernova leftovers, with their higher concentrations of metals, likely also become the sites of the next generation of heavier element-filled stars and future planet formation, the researchers suspect. "The higher metal content… could, in principle, lead to the formation of rocky planetesimals in protoplanetary disks with low-mass stars," Whalen and team say. This means the potential planets could also harbor water. Several stars may also form together in the same region, the researchers explain. "If so, several supernova explosions may occur and overlap in the halo," Whalen and colleagues explain. "Several explosions may produce more dense cores and, thus, more sites for water formation and concentration in the halo." In areas where the halo gas is sparse, multiple explosions would destroy the formed water, but in the denser cloud cores, H2O has a higher chance of surviving, thanks to dust shielding it from radiation. The team's calculations suggest the amount of water produced by the earliest galaxies may have been only ten times less than what we see in our galaxy today, suggesting one of life's major ingredients was amply abundant very long ago. This research was published in Nature Astronomy. Fast Radio Burst Traced Back to The Last Place We Expected Blue Ghost Makes History With Perfect Moon Landing: Amazing Photos This Star Goes Nova Every 80 Years. Here's Where to Look For It in 2025.
