( CNN ) -- An icy asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Saturn is adding credence to theories that Earth 's water was delivered from space , according to a report published in the new issue of the science journal Nature . Two teams of scientists found their evidence when looking at 24 Themis , a asteroid about 479 million kilometers ( 300 million miles ) from the sun , or roughly three times the average distance from Earth to the sun . Using the infrared telescope at Mauna Kea , Hawaii , they were surprised to find not only water on 24 Themis , but organic compounds as well . Asteroids were thought to be devoid of water because they sit too close to the sun , while comets have been the water bearers of the universe because they form farther out in space . `` Astronomers have looked at dozens of asteroids with this technique , but this is the first time we 've seen ice on the surface and organics , '' astronomer Andrew Rivkin of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel , Maryland , told Nature.com . The scientific teams from Johns Hopkins and the University of Central Florida that looked at 24 Themis speculate that the ice may be held in a reservoir under the asteroid 's surface . They speculate that the water is brought to the surface as small bodies in the asteroid belt hit the surface of 24 Themis . The findings on 24 Themis lend weight to the idea that asteroids and comets are the source of Earth 's water and organic material . Geochemists believe that early Earth went through a molten phase that would have removed any organic molecules , meaning any new organic material would have had to come to the planet at a later time , said Humberto Campins at UCF . `` I believe our findings are linked to the origin of life on Earth , '' he added . Scientists now plan to scan the asteroid belt for more evidence of water and organic materials , hoping to determine if 24 Themis is just an interloper -- possibly a comet that got caught in the asteroid belt -- or the first of many water-bearing asteroids that will change the way astronomers look at the solar system . `` The old-fashioned picture of the solar system in which asteroids are asteroids and comets are comets is getting harder to sustain , '' Rivkin said .
Report : The report is a bit of an oversimplification. Organic compounds were also found on 24 Themis . Asteroids were once thought not to contain water because they were too close to sun .