Is There Water on the Sun?

Peter Bernath of the University of Waterloo has made an amazing discovery. He has found water on the sun! The sun being 5700 C is too hot for liquid water to exist; however, it is present as vapour in the cooler sunspots (2900 C). Water is present only in the sunspots because at higher temperatures, water is unstable and splits into oxygen and hydrogen. The sunspots are relatively cooler allow the formation of water. This discovery confirms what solar astronomers have suspected for years.

The water was detected using a high resolution infrared spectrometer. The astronomers at the National Solar Observatory near Tuscon, Arizona were initially not looking for water. They were actually looking for the presence of magnesium (Mg) in the sun. However, the print-out of the spectrum they received contained many unidentified lines that suggested something else was present. Bernath suspected that the extra lines were due to water but had to prove it. This was accomplished by heating water up in the University of Waterloo's high temperature research furnace, recording the infrared spectrum using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and comparing the two spectra. The spectra matched!

Astronomers may find this discovery useful because it could be used as a model for the behaviour of stars in distant galaxies or may even help determine how fast the stars evolve. On the other hand, the U.S. and Canadian military are also interested in this discovery. Rocket exhaust contains water vapour; therefore, it is suggested that the rockets may be tracked by the infrared spectrum of the water vapour in the exhaust.