Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Planetary Science

Asteroids could have delivered water to the early Earth

The space rocks’ impacts wouldn’t have boiled all of their water away, study suggests

Asteroid hurtling toward Earth

INCOMING  Water vapor can be trapped in glass and melted rocks that are created by an asteroid impact. The finding boosts the idea that asteroids brought water to the early Earth.

ratpack223/iStockphoto

By Lisa Grossman

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Planetary Science

  1. young star jet
    Space

    Phosphorus, a key ingredient of life, has been found in a newborn star system

    By Adam Mann
  2. Asteroid 2020 AV2
    Planetary Science

    For the first time, an asteroid has been found nearer to the sun than Venus

    By Christopher Crockett
  3. moon
    Space

    The sterile moon may still hold hints of how life began on Earth

    By Maria Temming
  4. Egg nebula stardust
    Space

    This ancient stardust is the oldest ever to be examined in a lab

    By Maria Temming
  5. Hayabusa2 spacecraft shadow
    Space

    How 2019’s space missions explored distant worlds

    By Maria Temming
  6. moon
    Space

    China stuck its moon landing this year. Others weren’t as lucky

    By Maria Temming
  7. Bennu landing site
    Space

    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx must avoid ‘Mount Doom’ to return a sample of the asteroid Bennu

    By Maria Temming
  8. Mars Maven spacecraft
    Space

    NASA’s MAVEN probe shows how wind circulates in Mars’ upper atmosphere

    By Christopher Crockett

From the Nature Index

Paid Content