NASA scientists have discovered signs of really old water in dust from the Kuiper Belt, a very distant icy zone far beyond Neptune.
Led by Lindsay Keller, the team found that the minerals preserved the signature of ancient water in dust from the Kuiper Belt, a very distant icy zone far beyond Neptune.
Kuiper grains point to separate reservoir
The dust grains NASA studied are packed with carbon and minerals that only form when water is around, so there was definitely liquid water on their parent objects at some point.
Even cooler: these grains have a unique "heavy" oxygen signature, showing this water came from a separate reservoir that had remained largely isolated from the mixing and chemical changes taking place closer to the Sun.