One of the largest reservoirs of water discovered, but not on Earth

In a groundbreaking revelation, scientists have unearthed one of the universe’s most colossal reservoirs of water, a discovery not within the confines of Earth, but floating in the vast expanse of space. This celestial body of water, deemed by researchers as potentially the oldest and certainly the most expansive, surpasses terrestrial measurements by an astronomical magnitude. The amassed water mass is estimated to be at least 140 trillion times greater than the cumulative volume of all the oceans on Earth. This astronomical find emerged from the collaborative efforts of two teams of astronomers, spearheaded by scientists affiliated with Caltech.

This prodigious reservoir, however, lies beyond the discernible reach of conventional telescopes, veiled behind the presence of an immense feeding black hole recognized as a quasar, positioned over 12 billion light years away. Quasars, luminous epicenters within active galaxies, derive their energy from supermassive black holes voraciously consuming colossal amounts of gas. The specific quasar under scrutiny, named APM 08279+5255, harbors a black hole an astounding 20 billion times more massive than our Sun, generating energy equivalent to a thousand trillion Suns.

The unique environment surrounding this quasar stands out, producing an astonishing quantity of water, a revelation underscored by Matt Bradford, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He emphasized the exceptional nature of this find, portraying it as another testament to the omnipresence of water in the universe, even during its nascent stages.

The observational evidence of water materialized as astronomers scrutinized the quasar, detecting water vapor dispersed across a gas region encompassing hundreds of light-years around the black hole. While traces of water have been identified elsewhere in the Milky Way, predominantly in frozen states, the revelation of water’s existence in the early universe stunned scientists. This finding prompts further inquiry into the distant cosmos, leading researchers to propose the construction of a 25-meter telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert to deepen our understanding of the universe’s antiquity. The quest to unravel the mysteries of water’s prevalence in the cosmos promises to open new avenues of exploration and enrich our comprehension of the universe’s formative epochs.