• Question: is there water in space

    Asked by yehscience123 to Simon, Julia, Delma, Andrew, Alex on 13 Dec 2015. This question was also asked by Jack.
    • Photo: Andrew Winnard

      Andrew Winnard answered on 13 Dec 2015:


      Space is a vacuum, which means there is nothing in it, except for things that can pass through such as light. However there is water on planets, like Earths oceans and ice on the moon 🙂 So you can find water in other places out in space (planets, moons, asteroids, comets), but in the actual vacuum of space (all the emptiness in between).

      Other places with water:
      Saturn’s moon Titan, “cryovolcanoes” are thought to erupt with cold slurries of water ice and ammonia.

      Another Saturnian moon, Enceladus, is thought to have an ocean beneath its icy shell that likely feeds jets of water ice seen spurting from that moon.

      Jupiter’s moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, Neptune’s Triton and the Uranian moons Titania and Oberon are also thought to potentially harbor hidden seas.

      The outer worlds themselves are rather icy. Neptune and Uranus are often dubbed “ice giants” because they are rich with water, ammonia, and methane.

      Pluto is thought to consist roughly of 30 percent water ice.

      Beyond them lie the Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud and the scattered disk, home to untold numbers of comets and icy dwarf planets such as Eris.

      PS: The astro support team will start getting evicted this week from Tuesday! If you like my replies then please vote for me – and check out the videos I made myself specially for you guys this weekend, on my profile page! 😀

    • Photo: Delma Childers

      Delma Childers answered on 14 Dec 2015:


      Definitely, but mostly in the form of ice (especially on comets, moons, and other planets). 😀

Comments