How Comets In Distant Solar Systems Could Deliver Oceans to Exoplanets

A pair of new comet studies from two space telescopes show how other planets might grow oceans. For the first time, astronomers have detected a ring of cold water vapor encircling a young star’s dusty planetary disk. And a separate study in a different star system shows a hailstorm of icy bodies could be bombarding a young planet. Together, the studies bolster a theory about how comets may have delivered Earth’s oceans — and they show this is not a unique occurrence in the universe.