Questions tagged [water]

Questions about the water molecule (composed of two atoms of hydrodgen and one atom of oxygen) and its detection in celestial objects.

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Enceladus; why use the words "geysers", "jets", and "plumes" interchangeably?

Background, Europa: In an earlier question How can “Geysers” on Europa reach heights of 100km? I brought up the use of the word "geyser" in association with the reported confirming observations of ...
uhoh's user avatar
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18 votes
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Is the water underneath Europa's ice cap potable?

I read this question on Worldbuilding.SE, and figured that the astronomy site would have answers too, particularly for the specific example of Europa. The idea is that Earth's oceans are salty because ...
KeizerHarm's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
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How can "Geysers" on Europa reach heights of 100km?

After seeing today's Washington Post's article NASA just saw Europa’s geysers erupting into space. Again., and especially the phrase "geysers erupting into space" I checked and Europa has a surface ...
uhoh's user avatar
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55 votes
4 answers
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What would happen if an ice cube is left in space?

Recently I boarded a flight and noticed outside air temperature as -53°C at an altitude of 36860ft (11.23km). I don't know what causes such a freezing temperature in that altitude but was wondering ...
Praveen Kadambari's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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Is there any "scale" for measuring salinity of extraterrestrial water?

Continuation of Is the water underneath Europa's ice cap potable? The referenced question discussed if water from Europa's ice caps is potable or not and from the answers, it was gathered that ...
Nilay Ghosh's user avatar
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30 votes
3 answers
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Could liquid water have existed in open space 15 million years after the Big Bang?

Around 15 million years after the Big Bang, the ambient temperatures was about $24^\circ {\rm C}$, which is in a range where water could be liquid. Could liquid blobs of water be existent then? PS: I ...
Cerelic's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
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Where did Mars' water go?

Many sources indicate that there is ice water on Mars today, but it is mainly traces, here and there, but not that much. However, solid hypothesis state that there were oceans on Mars, see Wikipedia'...
Thibault's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
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How did water get on Earth

I recently read that water more than likely got here by comets (carrying water) hitting the Earth. However it also it says the impact of a comet hitting the Earth is much greater than an atomic bomb. ...
TheDudeAbides's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
2k views

How would water-ammonia oceans behave?

Scientists strongly suspect that several moons in our solar system have frozen-over oceans of water-ammonia mixture. I've also read speculations on the possibility of surface water-ammonia oceans on ...
n_bandit's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
280 views

How do we know that comets definitely mase and not just fluoresce? What is it about 18-cm lines that indicates that is really masing per se?

Wikipedia's Astrophysical_maser#comets mentions some anecdotes of notable masers associated with comets, and Maser emissions from comets begins: The 18-cm lines of the OH radical are the only well-...
uhoh's user avatar
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Can a comet orbit a planet?

Given that moons commonly orbit planets, why do we never encounter a comet orbiting a planet? What would happen (exactly, in detail) if a large one did settle into a stable orbit around the Earth? ...
it's a hire car baby's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

How would water waves behave in partial gravity?

Would an "indoor" pool of water on the Moon or on Mars behave differently than on Earth? Would the waves caused by a splash be higher or lower? Would they propagate faster or slower? Would boyance be ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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What constraints are there on solid material in the ice giants?

Recently there has been experimental verification of superionic water ice (suggested to be called ice XVIII, not sure if this nomenclature is official yet), which turns out to be a solid (or at ...
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2 votes
1 answer
152 views

How long could an ocean last in space?

If all of Earth's oceans were suddenly moved into outer space, how long would it take for them to evaporate? My understanding is that water evaporates straight away in space... but what about when it'...
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