Largest Reservoir of Water Discovered in Space

Sounds like a good place for a swim !

International Business Timeshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Astromomers found a reservoir of water in space that measures 140 trillion times the earth's ocean water.

It is also the farthest reservoir of water ever discovered in the universe, according to two teams of researchers.

The water surrounds a huge, feeding black hole called a "quasar" more than 12 billion light-years away. The quasar is powered by a giant black hole which gradually consumes a surrounding disk of gas and dust, while spewing out enormous amounts of energy.

Astronomers studied a quasar called APM 08279+5255, where the black hole is 20 billion times greater than the sun. They discovered water vapor distributed around the black holestretching out to hundreds of light-years in size.

Scientists witness apparent black hole birth

No it's not in Washington D.C.


For the first time, scientists believe they have witnessed the birth of a black hole.

The evidence began arriving 30 years ago from a star 50 million light-years away that had imploded, setting into motion events that created a region where gravity is so great that nothing can escape, even light.

The initial 1979 observation of the exploding star was made by an amateur astronomer from Western Maryland, but the profession's top scientists have studied it intently with increasingly sophisticated orbiting X-ray telescopes.

In announcing the discovery Monday at NASA headquarters, the researchers said that although the information they have collected is consistet with the birth of a baby black hole, they cannot rule out other possibilities. Nonetheless, they spoke enthusiastically about what they are learning and will learn about the evolution of black holes.