Oceans, Ices, Vapors: Turns out the Solar System isn’t so parched. We survey the moons and planets where scientists are finding water in all its forms.
Underwater water worlds are no place for vegetarians Sorry folks stay at home no place for vegetarian astronauts because outside planet earth most habitable worlds are Underwater planets without Sunlight so… See ya… (fishetarianism because it is universal and cosmic)
Last week brought the news that Enceladus likely has a warm salty ocean, and that liquid water lurks beneath the surface of Ganymede. These findings are continuing to chip away at the once-held belief that the solar system was dry and barren, bereft of water.
THE HUNT FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE HAS TURNED TO OUR OWN COSMIC BACKYARD
It seems there are few places in the solar systems without some amount of water, whether liquid or solid. There’s even a small amount of water vapor on Venus, something like 20 parts-per-million. And every time a source of liquid water is found or suggested, it brings up the chances of life on that world because of the way water acts as a solvent – facilitating the metabolic processes at the most basic level of life. That’s why the hunt for extraterrestrial life (quite doubtfully of an intelligent sort, though we’ve found some quite remarkable octopuses on Earth) has turned from distant solar systems to our own cosmic backyard.
Here’s the breakdown of all the water we know about in the solar system, and what form it comes in.
Oceans
All But Confirmed:
Europa
- Gravitational force : 1.315 m/s².
- Escape velocity : 2.025 km/s .
Continue reading “New Worlds : 23 Places We’ve Found Water in Our Solar System”