Did it have an extra terrestrial origin of water
Extraterrestrial liquid water (from the Latin words: extra ["outside of, beyond"] and terrestris ["of or belonging to Earth"]) is water in its liquid state that naturally occurs outside Earth. It is a subject of wide interest because it is recognised as one of the key prerequisites for life as we know it and thus surmised as essential for extraterrestrial life.[1]
With oceanic water covering 71% of its surface, Earth is the only planet known to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface,[2] and liquid water is essential to all known life forms on Earth. The presence of water on the surface of Earth is a product of its atmospheric pressure and a stable orbit in the Sun's circumstellar habitable zone, though the origin of Earth's water remains unknown.
The main methods currently used for confirmation are absorption spectroscopy and geochemistry. These techniques have proven effective for atmospheric water vapour and ice. However, using current methods of astronomical spectroscopy it is substantially more difficult to detect liquid water on terrestrial planets, especially in the case of subsurface water. Due to this, astronomers, astrobiologists and planetary scientists use habitable zone, gravitational and tidal theory, models of planetary differentiation and radiometry to determine potential for liquid water. Water observed in volcanic activity can provide more compelling indirect evidence, as can fluvial features and the presence of antifreeze agents, such as salts or ammonia.
Using such methods, many scientists infer that liquid water once covered large areas of Mars and Venus.[3][4] Water is thought to exist as liquid beneath the surface of some planetary bodies, similar to groundwater on Earth. Water vapour is sometimes considered conclusive evidence for the presence of liquid water, although atmospheric water vapour may be found to exist in many places where liquid water does not. Similar indirect evidence, however, supports the existence of liquids below the surface of several moons and dwarf planets elsewhere in the Solar System.[1] Some are speculated to be large extraterrestrial "oceans".[1] Liquid water is thought to be common in other planetary systems, despite the lack of conclusive evidence, and there is a growing list of extrasolar candidates for liquid water
Extraterrestrial liquid water (from the Latin words: extra ["outside of, beyond"] and terrestris ["of or belonging to Earth"]) is water in its liquid state that naturally occurs outside Earth. It is a subject of wide interest because it is recognised as one of the key prerequisites for life as we know it and thus surmised as essential for extraterrestrial life.[1]
With oceanic water covering 71% of its surface, Earth is the only planet known to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface,[2] and liquid water is essential to all known life forms on Earth. The presence of water on the surface of Earth is a product of its atmospheric pressure and a stable orbit in the Sun's circumstellar habitable zone, though the origin of Earth's water remains unknown.
The main methods currently used for confirmation are absorption spectroscopy and geochemistry. These techniques have proven effective for atmospheric water vapour and ice. However, using current methods of astronomical spectroscopy it is substantially more difficult to detect liquid water on terrestrial planets, especially in the case of subsurface water. Due to this, astronomers, astrobiologists and planetary scientists use habitable zone, gravitational and tidal theory, models of planetary differentiation and radiometry to determine potential for liquid water. Water observed in volcanic activity can provide more compelling indirect evidence, as can fluvial features and the presence of antifreeze agents, such as salts or ammonia.
Using such methods, many scientists infer that liquid water once covered large areas of Mars and Venus.[3][4] Water is thought to exist as liquid beneath the surface of some planetary bodies, similar to groundwater on Earth. Water vapour is sometimes considered conclusive evidence for the presence of liquid water, although atmospheric water vapour may be found to exist in many places where liquid water does not. Similar indirect evidence, however, supports the existence of liquids below the surface of several moons and dwarf planets elsewhere in the Solar System.[1] Some are speculated to be large extraterrestrial "oceans".[1] Liquid water is thought to be common in other planetary systems, despite the lack of conclusive evidence, and there is a growing list of extrasolar candidates for liquid water
