A new study supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute is helping astrobiologists determine where Earth’s water came from. The team of researchers developed a new model for the origin of water on Earth that incorporates factors like water absorption on primordial dust grains, contributions from asteroid and planetary embryos, and water from comets. The model also accounts for the time of water delivery based on evidence from Earth’s geological record.

Liquid water is essential for life as we know it, and determining the origin of Earth’s water resources can help astrobiologists understand how life began on our planet. This information is also valuable in determining how habitable planets might form and evolve around distant stars. The paper was published in The Astrophysical Journal .