Discovery of the 'Missing Link' in Solar System Water Creation

Astronomers have discovered gaseous water in a planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis, located 1,300 light years away, tracing the origins of Earth's water to before the formation of the Sun. This finding is considered the "missing link" in understanding the evolution of life. The discovery, made using the ALMA telescope in Chile, could aid in identifying planets or moons with potential for extraterrestrial life and confirms that water in planetary systems formed billions of years ago in interstellar space, inherited by both comets and Earth relatively unchanged.