Astronomers have detected "heavy water" in a planet-forming disk for the first time, uncovering compelling evidence that much of the water in our Solar System predates the Sun itself. The discovery provides new insight into how ancient interstellar ice survived the violent birth of stars and planetary systems.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers ident by Clarence Oxford
Charlottesville VA (SPX) Oct 16, 2025
Astronomers have detected "heavy water" in a planet-forming disk for the first time, uncovering compelling evidence that much of the water in our Solar System predates the Sun itself. The discovery provides new insight into how ancient interstellar ice survived the violent birth of stars and planetary systems.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers identified doubly deuterated water (D2O) in the disk surrounding V883 Orionis, a young Sun-like star. The presence of this rare isotopic form of water shows that the water in the disk - and the comets and planets that may one day emerge from it - originated long before the star's formation.
"Our detection indisputably demonstrates that the water seen in this planet-forming disk must be older than the central star and formed at the earliest stages of star and planet formation," said Margot Leemker, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Milan. "This presents a major breakthrough in understanding the journey of water through planet formation, and how this water made its way to our Solar System, and possibly Earth, through similar processes."
The chemical fingerprint of D2O provides proof that these molecules are remnants of primordial ices formed in cold molecular clouds billions of years ago. Instead of being destroyed and reconstituted during the disk's evolution, they survived intact - cosmic relics passed from interstellar space to newborn planetary systems.
"Until now, we weren't sure if most of the water in comets and planets formed fresh in young disks like V883 Ori, or if it's 'pristine,' originating from ancient interstellar clouds," explained John Tobin, co-author and scientist at the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory. "The detection of heavy water provides National Radio Astronomy Observatory
between clouds, disks, comets, and ultimately planets."
The finding strengthens the view that the water found in comets, and perhaps in Earth's oceans, is inherited rather than newly created. This interstellar water, older than the Sun, underscores the deep continuity between the formation of stars and the origins of life-supporting environments.
Research Report:Pristine ices in a planet-forming disk revealed by heavy water
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