Water is a necessity for life as we know it. Every living thing on Earth consumes water to stay hydrated and survive. Water also provides opportunities for exploration, whether it is taking to the oceans to discover a new bit of land or diving into the depths below, where many mysteries remain unanswered. Astrobiologists now want to up the ante and explore the oceans of other worlds millions of miles – or possibly even light-years – away in order to find signs of alien life.
How worlds end up having global oceans, either visible on the surface or buried underneath an icy exterior, is a story in itself. Water does not float through space as liquid droplets waiting to splash down on a surface. As space is so cold, water travels through space as grains of ice. As new planetary systems begin to form around a young star, water can stay as these icy grains beyond a certain radius, known as the ‘ice line’.
This story is from the Issue 109 edition of All About Space.
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This story is from the Issue 109 edition of All About Space.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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