Water was detected in a large galaxy of the early universe. This is the most distant detection of water in molecular form to date in a galaxy that "gives birth" to stars.
The observations were made with the ALMA International Telescope in the Atacama Desert of Chile and the researchers made the relevant pre-publication in arXiv, followed by a publication in the astrophysical journal "The Astrophysical Journal".
The detection of water molecules, along with carbon monoxide, took place in the pair of galaxies SPT031-58 (which are probably in a fusion phase) almost 12,88 billion light-years from Earth, at a time when the universe was only 780 million years old. years and then the first stars and galaxies were created.
This double galaxy has the largest mass of any known galaxy of that early age. Water is the third most abundant molecule in the universe after molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
RES-EAP