water tagged posts

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces. Credit: ESO/N. Bartmann/spaceengine.org

An international team used Hubble to estimate whether there might be water on the 7 earth-sized planets orbiting the nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. The results suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbour substantial amounts of water. This includes the 3 planets within the habitable zone of the star, lending further weight to the possibility that they may indeed be habitable.

The team used ...

Hot Jupiters, exoplanets around the same size as Jupiter that orbit very closely to their stars, often have cloud or haze layers in their atmospheres. This may prevent space telescopes from detecting atmospheric water that lies beneath the clouds, according to a study in the Astrophysical Journal. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Water is a hot topic in the study of exoplanets, including “hot Jupiters,” whose masses are similar to that of Jupiter, but which are much closer to their parent star than Jupiter is to the sun. They can reach a scorching 2,000F, meaning any water they host would take the form of water vapor. Astronomers have found many hot Jupiters with water in their atmospheres, but others appear to have none...

This is the temperature of the surface around the southern pole of the moon according to LRO data. Credit: NASA

Water reserves found on the moon are the result of asteroids acting as ‘delivery vehicles’ and not of falling comets as was previously thought. Using computer simulation, scientists have discovered that a large asteroid can deliver more water to the lunar surface than the cumulative fall of comets over a billion year period.

At the beginning of the space age, during the days of the Apollo program, scientists believed the moon to be completely dry. At these earliest stages in satellite evolution, the absence of an atmosphere and the influence of solar radiation were thought enough to evaporate all volatile substances into space...

Dark, narrow streaks on Martian slopes such as these at Hale Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on contemporary Mars. The streaks are roughly the length of a football field. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Perchlorate salts, which may help on our JourneyToMars! Perchlorate absorbs water from the air.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, NASA found hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on Mars. One thing that researchers noticed was that the darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. During warm seasons, they darken and then fade in cooler seasons. When discovered in 2010, these downhill flows known as recurring slope lineae (RSL) were thought to be related to liquid water...