Space is the largest source of water discovered by astronauts, located near a black hole.

NASA has announced that two teams of scientists have made a significant discovery: the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe. This water volume exists in space surrounding a supermassive black hole or quasar and accounts for 140 trillion times all the water present on Earth. This discovery is particularly significant because it shows that water has existed since the beginning of the universe, even when the universe was only 1.6 billion years old.

The quasar in question, APM 08279+5255, is 20 billion times larger than the sun and emanates energy magnitudes equivalent to a thousand trillion suns. The water vapor present in this quasar is distributed around the black hole in a gaseous region spanning hundreds of light-years in size. Its presence indicates that the quasar is bathing the gas in X-rays and infrared radiation, making it unusually warm and dense by astronomical standards. The quasar has access to so much water vapor and carbon monoxide that it can feed on these proximate gases and grow to about six times its initial size.

This discovery is important because water is a crucial component when it comes to human habitation and expansion. If we are to become a space-faring species, our water-harvesting skills will be vital to our planet-trotting and inhabiting endeavors in the future.

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