
Lots of water spotted in a still-forming solar system 175 light years away - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/10/lots-of-water-spotted-in-a-still-forming-solar-system-175-light-years-away.ars
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hugh3
Finding water anywhere is no longer a big deal. It's now known to be one of
the most common substances in the universe. Hydrogen and oxygen are the first
and third most common elements in the universe, and forming water molecules
tends to be a pretty good way for them to arrange themselves.

That's not to say that it's not pretty cool to detect water vapour in a
protostellar disc, just that it's not at all surprising.

Another nitpick of the article: the arstechnica audience should have enough of
a sense of perspective that you don't need quotes around the "only" in
_'"only" 175 light years away'_.

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ChuckMcM
_"Finding water anywhere is no longer a big deal."_

Its interesting to compare this sentiment with the sentiment in the last
century where the question of whether or not water was plentiful was a very
real one.

This is what I love about science (as opposed to dogma) which is that data
can, albeit sometimes slowly, change the consensus. The notion that planets
were 'common' was pure speculation, no evidence to back that up at all, but
experiments like the Kepler Observatory have provided plenty of evidence that
planets are quite common, even rocky ones. That Mars may have had liquid
water, very controversial, now I believe pretty much everyone has bought into
the notion that the 'water features' on Mars really were created by water not
some other process that has the same effect as water.

~~~
hugh3
Yep, that's science for you.

It's an exciting time to be a planetary scientist.

