Scientists who celebrated the successful orbiting of a comet by spacecraft Rosetta were in for much more surprise when the probe found an unexpected patch of frozen water on the comet's surface.

The latest discovery, observers said, further adds to the hypothesis that the water existing on Earth and other planets were brought by comets.

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The discovery was published by researchers at the University of Maryland, which printed their observations of Comet 67P in a seven article series in the Journal Science.

Among the most significant, and rather intriguing, discovery was that the comet's double-lobed body is coated with molecules of frozen water.

However, the scientists pointed out that the water molecules on comet 67P are somewhat different from the water found on planet earth because the comet's water contains deuterium.

Deuterium is formed when an extra neutron is added to hydrogen. The water, however, remains drinkable, the scientists said.

Comets have long been thought to play a part in life development on planets, especially on planet earth. Comets were believed to have released organic materials, such as water and amino acids that signaled the onset of abiogenesis on Earth.

The scientists also believed that the shape of comet 67P, which is double-lobed, was formed by two comets that collided.

The comet, they said, could mean that the comet could break apart in the future.

The published discovery was based on the result of the two and a half months of data collecting by the Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta is expected to continue orbiting comet 67P for the rest of 2015.

Tagsrosetta, comet 67P