Posted on 07/22/2011 8:44:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Astronomers have discovered the largest and oldest mass of water ever detected in the universe — a gigantic, 12-billion-year-old cloud harboring 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.
The cloud of water vapor surrounds a supermassive black hole called a quasar located 12 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery shows that water has been prevalent in the universe for nearly its entire existence, researchers said.
"Because the light we are seeing left this quasar more than 12 billion years ago, we are seeing water that was present only some 1.6 billion years after the beginning of the universe," said study co-author Alberto Bolatto, of the University of Maryland, in a statement. "This discovery pushes the detection of water one billion years closer to the Big Bang than any previous find."
Quasars are the most luminous, most powerful and most energetic objects in the universe. They are powered by enormous black holes that suck in surrounding gas and dust and spew out huge amounts of energy.
...
The astronomers used two different telescopes, one in Hawaii and one in California, to detect and confirm the water vapor surrounding the quasar.
Scientists think water vapor was present even in the early universe. So finding this old cloud of the stuff doesn't come as a shock.
"It's another demonstration that water is pervasive throughout the universe, even at the very earliest times," said study lead author Matt Bradford of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
However, the sheer size of the vapor cloud may surprise some scientists. APM 08279+5255 contains 4,000 times more water vapor than our own Milky Way galaxy, researchers said. That may be because much of the Milky Way's water is locked up in ice rather than vapor.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
This artist's concept illustrates a quasar, or feeding black hole, similar to APM 08279+5255, where astronomers discovered huge amounts of water vapor. Gas and dust likely form a torus around the central black hole, with clouds of charged gas above and below.
NASA/ESA
12 billion years ago, that quasar sucked in the water like a fat kid sucking the last of his milkshake through a straw.
Of interest??
As an astronomy buff (see screen name) it’s nice to see astronomical numbers like 140 trillion.
Our national debt is greater than 10% of that number.
And that’s a staggering amount of dihydrogen monoxide.
Now if only we could reach it and then bottle it. Eat your heart out Fiji water!
It’s water broke and a new black hole will soon be born?
PING
The Beginning
Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
No surprise, Hydrogen and Oxygen just elements floating around the entire universe. I’m sure there will be more elements added in the far future which we mortals will not be around to see. There has to also be life out there, we are not alone, and our mind set is not what it was over 2000 years ago. Discoveries await us. Remember “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future.”. :o) (I had to put that in.)
If you look closely, you can see the Silver Surfer.
...in the first diaper of Helen Thomas?
More than anything, I look forward to the day when we discover a planet that looks just like Alfred E. Newman’s head. It’s a certainty that it’s out there.
Well sir, I must ask then shouldn’t there be whole assortment of nebula full with alcohol then?
LOL!!
Isn’t finding a planet that looks like Helen Thomas’s head a sign of the Apocalypse?
Please don't use such language. The left will think it is something that can be taxed.
Our friend here discovered it, too.
The cloud of water vapor surrounds a supermassive black hole called a quasar located 12 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery shows that water has been prevalent in the universe for nearly its entire existence, researchers said.
You should be aware of the fact that the interpretation of quasar redshift as distance has been substantially debunked, resulting in a picture of quasars as proto-galaxies which are often attached directly to other galaxies with substantially lower redshift values, leading to the conclusion that many if not most of the redshift values you see in cosmic objects is inherent and not related to distance or expansion.
The other conclusion which is clear is that quasars are very much closer to us than the old interpretation indicated.
I expect a Nobel Peace Prize for this insight, but right now I need to rush off and found a bunch of hydrogen credit enterprises.
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