Water Vapor In Space

[hazelm]

A team of scientists has uncovered jets of warm water vapor streaming away from a newly forming star and detected an astonishing assortment of molecules near the stellar nursery.

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180817150322.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29

 

The article does as much bragging about the ALMA  telescope's high frequency vision and how it enables the discovery of (heavy) water vapor as it does about the discovery.  Is this the first find of "heavy water" in space?

[Vmedvil2]

The Resolution of that telescope must be really good to notice the difference between the water and heavy water from that distance, but basically it shows that our current understanding of solar formation is correct that they found water being ejected from the middle of the solar system after a star forms.

[hazelm]

The Resolution of that telescope must be really good to notice the difference between the water and heavy water from that distance, but basically it shows that our current understanding of solar formation is correct that they found water being ejected from the middle of the solar system after a star forms.

That's what I was wondering:   is this a confirmation of something we were only hoping to find up until now?   I only got to read about half of it.  Must go back and finish later.  I like that it is the Cat's Paw".  :-)

[GAHD]

The Resolution of that telescope must be really good to notice the difference between the water and heavy water from that distance, but basically it shows that our current understanding of solar formation is correct that they found water being ejected from the middle of the solar system after a star forms.

Apparently it doesn't have to be particularly high-res. Just have to tune for the right spectra. http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html

[exchemist]

Apparently it doesn't have to be particularly high-res. Just have to tune for the right spectra. http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html

Yes, the vibrations of heavy water absorb and emit at significantly different frequencies from normal water because deuterium has twice the mass of hydrogen. So an H-O stretch, for example, will occur at quite a different frequency from a D-O stretch.

[hazelm]

Yes, the vibrations of heavy water absorb and emit at significantly different frequencies from normal water because deuterium has twice the mass of hydrogen. So an H-O stretch, for example, will occur at quite a different frequency from a D-O stretch.

I keep promising me that I'll find out what is the significance of "heavy" water.   Maybe the day after manana. 

[exchemist]

I keep promising me that I'll find out what is the significance of "heavy" water.   Maybe the day after manana. 

I'm not sure there is much significance in this context. Heavy water is just water (H2O) in which the "H" atoms have both a proton and a neutron in the nucleus, instead of just a proton, as hydrogen generally has. This version of hydrogen has double the mass of a normal hydrogen atom, which is why water made from it is called heavy water.

 

Heavy water is useful as a moderator in nuclear reactors, for reasons I won't bore you with, so it has some significance for that application.     

[hazelm]

I'm not sure there is much significance in this context. Heavy water is just water (H2O) in which the "H" atoms have both a proton and a neutron in the nucleus, instead of just a proton, as hydrogen generally has. This version of hydrogen has double the mass of a normal hydrogen atom, which is why water made from it is called heavy water.

 

Heavy water is useful as a moderator in nuclear reactors, for reasons I won't bore you with, so it has some significance for that application.     

Ah!  Bore me.  I have wondered for ages what it is used for.  Where do you find it on Earth?  Can you drink it?

[exchemist]

Ah!  Bore me.  I have wondered for ages what it is used for.  Where do you find it on Earth?  Can you drink it?

OK, you asked for it! There is a link here to a good explanation of why heavy water is a good moderator in a nuclear reactor: https://www.quora.com/How-is-heavy-water-used-in-nuclear-reactors?redirected_qid=13606383

 

(You need a light element that will slow down fast neutrons but will not absorb them. Deuterium - the name given to H with a neutron and a proton in the nucleus - does the job quite well.) 

 

You can drink it (it is NOT radioactive) but it won't quite behave like normal water in its biochemical reactions, so if all the water in your body became heavy water, you would get pretty ill. 

 

It is prepared by separating it out of normal water (it is naturally present at a low concentration), normally by using the fact that the heavier atom slightly alters the reactivity of the O-H bond, so chemical methods can in principle be used to concentrate it. 

[hazelm]

OK, you asked for it! There is a link here to a good explanation of why heavy water is a good moderator in a nuclear reactor: https://www.quora.com/How-is-heavy-water-used-in-nuclear-reactors?redirected_qid=13606383

 

(You need a light element that will slow down fast neutrons but will not absorb them. Deuterium - the name given to H with a neutron and a proton in the nucleus - does the job quite well.) 

 

You can drink it (it is NOT radioactive) but it won't quite behave like normal water in its biochemical reactions, so if all the water in your body became heavy water, you would get pretty ill. 

 

It is prepared by separating it out of normal water (it is naturally present at a low concentration), normally by using the fact that the heavier atom slightly alters the reactivity of the O-H bond, so chemical methods can in principle be used to concentrate it. 

Thank you and that is not boring.  I haven't done the link yet but shall do next.  I guess I'll not drink it.  :-(