In 2000, a comet carrying enough water to fill a small lake broke apart near the sun potentially validating the theory that comets could have brought the Earth's supply of water to the planet during its formational stages. It was also recently reported, "…that "a significant fraction" of the water on Earth was inherited from interstellar space, and was there before the Sun was formed some 4.6 billion years ago." Therefore, the water on this planet was here, or en route, before the planet itself.