Some of Earth's water is older than the Sun

Analysis suggests a portion of the water in our oceans formed in interstellar space before the solar system, surviving the Sun's birth intact. Water molecules form in cold interstellar clouds long before stars ignite. Some of that ancient water survived the Sun's formation intact rather than being broken apart, and ended up in comets and eventually in our oceans. The evidence is deuterium, a heavy form of hydrogen. Water made in the frigid conditions between stars carries far more of it than water made in the warm disc around a young Sun, and some solar system water shows that interstellar signature. Models suggest a substantial fraction — perhaps a third or more — predates the Sun. It matters for how common life might be: if water routinely survives star formation rather than having to be manufactured each time, young planetary systems start out already wet.

Some of Earth's water is older than the Sun

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