23 Places We've Found Water in Our Solar System So You Dropped Your Phone in the Toilet, Now What? 23 Places We've Found Water in Our Solar System 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. Most Popular By John Wenz Mar 16, 2015 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 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 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. Most Popular 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 Europa has been the biggest contender for life for years now, with a craggy icy crust hinting in almost every way at an ocean below. Thanks to the tidal effects from Jupiter (friction inside the moon created by the pull of the planet's gravity), the water would be kept liquid and possibly even warm below the icy crust, helped by possible hydrothermal vents. There's been some evidence of ice geysers shooting from the surface of Europa, as well as evidence that the ocean could have Hadley Cells —warm water radiating from the moon's equator. Europa could provide the possibility not just for life, but, if the conditions were just right, even complex life. Enceladus Advertisement - Continue Reading Below We've known of tiny, sleepy Enceladus since 1789.

The diameter is just 310 miles, smaller even than Ceres and Vesta, the two largest objects in the asteroid belt. Compare that to Europa, slightly smaller than our Moon at a 1,950 mile diameter. Never mind its small size: This is one of the most intriguing places in the solar system and best candidates for a warm, wet, salty ocean. It has as high a probability for life, if not higher, than Europa. Enceladus orbits near the rings of Saturn. In fact, watery eruptions from Enceladus' ice geysers comprise the F-Ring of the gas giant—the moon spews 1,000 tons of water into space every hour, according to Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy , along with organic molecules, salt, and other materials. Recent research suggests the ocean is also very warm thanks to the tidal effects from Saturn. The tug causes hydrothermal activity, which warms the oceans and causes the geysers, all in the kinds of hot beds that sprouted life on Earth. The Probablies Ganymede Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, bigger than even the planet Mercury.

Astronomers had long suspected that an ocean lies beneath the 100-mile-thick ice crust at the surface, and in a new study , aurorae activity suggest that the ocean is somewhat warm and definitely salty. Unlike Europa, no ice geyser activity has yet been spotted. This could be because of a reduced tidal effect on the moon, which is further from Jupiter than Europa. Unlike Europa, it doesn't have the cross-hatched icy surface showing consistent geologic surface activity. Still, the signs are good that Ganymede is harboring an ocean. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The Maybes Callisto Callisto is similar in composition to Ganymede and, as the furthest out of the four Galilean moon of Jupiter, is bombarded with the least amount radiation. It also has a magnetic field, adding some additional protection. We know there's water here—what we don't know is to what extent it's liquid. Callisto's relative lack of geologic activity suggests that the moon might not be able to sustain an ocean without the presence of some kind of anti-freeze compound within, meaning that there could be just a whole lot of ice in there.

However, as the farthest out of the satellites, it could make an interesting destination for exploration, allowing you to avoid the harsher effects of Jupiter's radiation while remotely exploring the other moons for signs of oceans and life. Most Popular Mars NASA The Red Planet probably once had oceans, including one covering a good chunk of the northern hemisphere. There are traces of water left on the surface, including compounds from the evaporation of the ancient ocean, as well as seasonal water ices covering the surface of the planet. There is some evidence pointing to occasional melting on the surface as well. That much is clear. But there's an intriguing possibility that Mars still has water underneath the surface, possibly in the forms of aquifers. Theoretically, these underground waterways could still host microbial life under the surface of Mars. The question, then, is whether this water exists as ice or liquid, and how much of it lurks beneath the soil. An entire ocean's worth is unlikely, but a significant amount of subsurface water isn't. Future missions, like the Mars 2020 rover and Russia's ExoMars probe, will look specifically for signs of organics and water under the martian surface.

Dione Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The team behind NASA's Cassini probe, which has turned up many of the exciting findings about Saturn and its moon, joking called Dione a "weaker copycat of Enceladus ." This Saturnian moon is much less active now than in the past, but it shows signs of geologic activity, including giant mountain peaks and other evidence pointing to a warmer history. It's possible that the moon retains enough of that heat for a small ocean to exists. Pluto (and maybe Charon) New Horizons will fly by Pluto this summer , becoming the first spacecraft to directly visit the world once known as the ninth planet. It may discover something that once seemed unlikely: an ocean. Most Popular Pluto is still seen mostly as an icy world. However, the tidal forces from its orbit with its largest moon Charon—combined with what scientists the violent formation of the system (a large collision likely formed Pluto and its five moons out of the same materials)—means Pluto could have hosted a ocean, and leaves open the outside possibility that it's still around. Noticeably Absent Titan It seems odd not to be able to include Titan, Saturn's largest and arguably most fascinating satellite, on this list.

Titan has some of the most abundant pools of liquid found anywhere in the solar system, but those come in the form of methane, a hydrocarbon chain that's good for life, but not necessarily as we know it. Still, Titan deserves to be mentioned in any tally of potentially habitable places because of its resemblance to early Earth. So here it is. Icy Bodies Mimas Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Mimas, the "Death Star moon ," is pretty much one big snowball. There doesn't seem to be much more to it than water ice. Yet a few unusual features hint at something weird on Mimas. The moon wobbles as it orbits Saturn, which indicates something unusual going on beneath the surface. The Cassini team says that it could be an ocean. But only maybe. The other chief possibility is that Mimas has a football-shaped core giving it the unusual tilt. At around the size of Enceladus, the moon is too small to retain the heat from its formation, so any ocean on Mimas would have to have an outside force acting on it—possibly radioactive decay. Triton Triton as seen by Voyager 2 NASA Neptune's largest moon, Triton, looks a lot like Pluto.

There's a reason for that. Its retrograde (backwards) orbit in comparison to the rest of the system suggests that Triton could be a captured Kuiper Belt object, and not something that formed alongside the planet. The moon's surface seems to be a mix of methane and water ices, much like Pluto, and there's the outside chance of an internal ocean, provided there is enough heating or radioactive decay. The moon likely has geysers, but instead of water they probably shoot nitrogen, giving the moon a thin atmosphere. We just don't know much else about Triton because the only close-up imaging came from Voyager 2's flyby in 1989 . Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Titania, Oberon, and Umbriel The same thing goes for Uranian moons: We need a better look at them. But preliminary indications show that Titania and Oberon are likely ice and rocky materials. Neither has, at the time, enough evidence to support liquid water hypotheses without an anti-freeze agent like ammonia. Umbriel, too, is largely composed of ice, but is even less likely to have an ocean.

It does, however, contain a bright spot of ice near one of its poles, likely the effect of a crater impact on the surface. There is also evidence of carbon dioxide gasses trapped under the surface. Tethys, Rhea, and Iapetus Most Popular These moons of Saturn appear similarly frozen, though there's an outside chance of liquid water on Rhea. These worlds are relatively inert, though Iapetus shows evidence of water sublimation (moving directly from solid to gas) on the surface. While these moons may not be good candidates for liquid water, they demonstrate the sheer abundance of water in the outer solar system. The Kuiper Belt There are hundreds of known objects out in the Kuiper Belt, where Pluto resides, many of them believed to be icy. The dwarf planets Eris and Haumea are believed to be similar to Pluto in composition, with water ice on the surface. But these small worlds have been discovered only in the last decade. There are also a few dwarf planet candidates that are known to be icy in nature, including Varuna, Quaoar, and Orcus. The latter has some indication of cryovolcanism and could potentially have a liquid ocean.

There are also a number of comets in the Kuiper Belt and beyond that are believed to be composed of water. This includes the first identified member of the Oort Cloud, Sedna. A Little Bit of Water Mercury Interesting Facts About Earth - Fun Facts About Earth Search Facts About Earth Earth is best defined as the only planet in our solar system that is known to support life. It is the third planet in the solar system, in terms of ascending distance from the Sun. Earth has all the ingredients needed for life, in the form of air, water, and so on. The fifth largest planet in the solar system, the planet is composed of three layers - a core, a mantle and an outer crust. A fun trivia about Earth is that though the planet is named 'Earth' only 29 percent of its surface is actually comprises of land (earth), while the rest is made up of water. Read on to explore some more interesting and fun facts about Earth. Interesting & Fun Facts about Earth Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in all its three states of matter: solid (ice), liquid (sea, rain, etc.) and gas (clouds).

Earth is almost five billion years old, although life has only existed on the planet for the last 150 to 200 million years. This means that life has been present on the planet for only 5%-10% of its lifetime. Earth and Mercury are the two densest planets in the Solar System. The length of time it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun is 365 and a quarter days. To make up this extra quarter, which isn't counted at the end of a year, we have an extra day every four years i.e. on 29th February. Earth is gradually slowing down. Every few years, an extra second is added to make up for lost time. Millions of years ago, a day on Earth will have been 20 hours long. It is believed that, after a few million years, a day on Earth will be 27 hours long. The centre of the Earth i.e. its core is molten. This means that it is liquid rock, which sometimes erupts onto the surface through volcanic eruptions. This core is 7,500° C hotter than the surface of Sun!

Earth is the only planet in the Solar System not to be named after a mythical God. Despite being called Earth, only 29% of the surface is actually 'earth' (land). The rest of the planet's surface (71%) is made up of water. From a distance in space, Earth would seem to be the brightest of the 8 planets. This is because large amount of sunlight is reflected by the water on the planet. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System known to be geologically active, with earthquakes and volcanoes forming the landscape, replenishing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and erasing impact craters from meteors. Earth's average distance from the Sun is 149,600,000 km (92,960,000 miles) Earth has a diameter of 12,760 km and mass of about 5.972 x 1024 kg Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System. Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. Moon is the second brightest object in the sky, as seen from the planet.

Earth's atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (77%), oxygen (21%), argon (0.93%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%). El Azizia (Libya) is the hottest place on Earth, while Vostok (Antarctica) is the coldest. Earth travels at an orbital speed of around 108,000 km (67,000 miles) an hour. Earth, along with Mercury, is densest planet in the Solar System. Earth is home to millions of species, including humans. The average distance between Earth and Moon is 238,857 miles (384,403.1 km). How to Cite Water Is Unique Ice Is One of Three States of Water Ice is but one state that water can exist in on Earth. As far as our exploration of the solar system has discovered, Earth is the only planet to have all three of these states together: Solid - Ice - A solid is the state of matter that is rigid; they resist changes to shape or volume. Solids have distinct boundaries. The atoms or molecules that make a solid are fixed in position relative to each other; they (essentially) are not moving.

Liquid - Water - A liquid is the state of matter that is a fluid that changes shape to fill a confining container. Liquids have distinct surfaces at their boundaries. The atoms or molecules making up a fluid move freely around the volume of the liquid. Gas - Water Vapor or Steam - A gas is the state of matter that does not have a definite shape or volume. A gas is the least dense state of matter. The atoms or molecules making up a gas move around freely — and often energetically! in the space that the gas occupies. We interact with these states every day. While typically invisible, water vapor is commonly seen as steam. Clouds are concentrations of water droplets or ice crystals. We are familiar with the solid form of water as ice cubes; hail, sleet, and snowflakes falling from the sky; icicles hanging from roofs and trees in winter; glaciers winding down mountain valleys; sea ice covering polar seas; and ice caps and ice sheets covering large stretches of continents at the north and south ends of our globe. Water covers just over 70% of Earth's surface.

Most of this is in our oceans as salt water (97%), with glaciers and ice caps holding 2.4% of our water in a frozen state. The remaining 0.6% is the freshwater in our rivers and lakes. Liquid water is the one substance required by all life as we know it. Ice is a mineral! A mineral is a naturally occurring solid that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. Ice has all of these attributes. Changes in temperature cause water to change state, and these changes occur at certain key temperatures. Pure water transitions between the solid and liquid states at 32°F (0°C) at sea level. This temperature is referred to as the melting point when rising temperatures are causing ice to melt and change state from a solid to a liquid (water). It is referred to as the freezing point when temperatures decrease, causing water to change state from a liquid to a solid (ice). (For most substances, the melting and freezing points are about the same temperature.) At the boiling point, water transitions from its liquid to gas (vapor) state.

Increasing the temperature above the boiling point, 212°F (100°C), causes water to change from liquid to gas (water vapor). The melting/freezing and boiling points change with pressure. The boiling point of water varies with atmospheric pressure; at lower pressure or higher altitudes, the boiling point is lower. On the top of Mount Everest, where atmospheric pressure is less, pure water boils at about 154 °F (68°C). In the deep oceans, under immense pressure, water remains liquid at temperatures of 750°F (400°C) around hydrothermal vents, where delicate hot-water ecosystems thrive. Pressure also alters the melting/freezing point. Ice at the base of thick glaciers is under such pressure that it melts at temperatures a few degrees Celsius below zero. A diagram showing the pressures and temperatures at which the different states of water exist. As your experience tells you, water occurs in the solid state — ice — at colder temperatures. Water is a liquid at higher temperatures and pressures, and a gas at the highest temperatures. At sea level (1 atmosphere of pressure) water freezes at 32 °F (0 °C), changing from a liquid to a solid.

Water boils — changes from a liquid to a gas — at 212 °F (100 °C) at sea level. Notice that ice can go directly from solid to gas. This process is called sublimation. It is very common in cold regions, such as Antarctica, where it never warms up sufficiently for the ice to melt. Image courtesy of Aerospaceweb.org Another way to alter the melting/freezing (and boiling) point of water is to add salt. (Actually, any substance that dissolves in water will alter the melting/freezing point.) Pure water and ice, kept insulated from the warm outside world, come to equilibrium over time. On a molecular level, water molecules are freezing onto the ice at the same rate as they are melting off of it. The entire water/ice solution is at the melting/freezing point, 32°F (0°C). Adding salt disrupts this equilibrium. Fewer water molecules are interacting with the ice at any given moment, so the freezing rate is slowed. The salt has no effect on the melting rate, so more melting occurs than freezing — melting "wins" — and the ice melts.

In doing so, heat energy is used to break the hydrogen bonds that hold the molecules in the ice together. In other words, the ice "uses up" some warmth from the solution and the temperature drops. Melting and freezing again match rates ("tie") once the temperature has dropped to the new melting point. The greater the amount of salt, the lower the freezing point (to a point; once there is sufficient salt that no more will dissolve, the freezing point no longer decreases). Ocean water is about 3.5% salt; sea water freezes at about 28°F (-2°C). A 10% salt solution freezes at about 20°F (-6°C), and a 20% solution freezes at 2°F (-16°C). This changing of the melting/freezing point is used to clear icy roads. Putting salt on an icy road causes the ice to melt by lowering its freezing point. The salt begins to dissolve when it comes into contact with the ice; this makes salt water with a very high concentration of salt! The salty water continues to interact with the ice, lowering its freezing point and melting it.

The temperature would have to drop below the freezing point of pure water (32°F, 0°C) in order to freeze the salty water. Many different salts are used for deicing roads. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is a common road salt — table salt is a higher grade sodium chloride. At colder temperatures, salts like magnesium chloride or calcium chloride are often used because they reduce the melting point even further. Salt water, and its decreased melting/freezing point, is also the secret to homemade ice cream. Rock salt is added to the ice that surrounds a container holding the ice cream ingredients to create a solution colder than pure ice water could. The super-cold brine causes the ice cream ingredients to freeze. Thanks to a property of ice called the "latent heat of melting," adding more ice to your drink on a hot summer's day will do nothing to lower the temperature. Whenever ice and water exist together, they are either in the process of melting or freezing. The warmth of a summer day goes into melting the ice rather than raising the temperature. Once all the ice has melted, that energy can begin to increase the water's temperature.

Water Molecules Get Along Well with Others Water molecules are unique in that they get along with so many other molecules and substances. Their shape makes them — in the molecular world, at least — attractive. A water molecule is similar in outline to Mickey Mouse, with two hydrogen atoms placed on one end of an oxygen atom. The oxygen atoms are positively charged and hydrogen atoms negatively charged, so water molecules stick to each other like tiny magnets. The hydrogen "ears" make loose bonds, called hydrogen bonds, with the oxygen "faces" of other water molecules. This gives water its high surface tension and causes water to "clump" into drops, rather than spread across a surface. Each molecule of water is made of two hydrogen atoms (white) and one oxygen atom (red). The hydrogen atoms are not placed on opposite sides of the oxygen atom; they occur at one end. A water molecule looks a little like an outline of Mickey Mouse. Image modified from Wikimedia Commons . Their positively-charged "ears" and negatively-charged "faces" make water molecules appealing to not only to all those Minnie Mouse-shaped water molecules out there, but many types of substances. This is especially true with other polar molecules and substances made of charged atoms or molecules (ionic substances).

A water molecule's polarized nature and ability to form hydrogen bonds makes it easy for other substances to get up and personal with it — or in other words, dissolve. When a substance is placed in water, the polarized ends of the water molecules work to break the bonds holding the molecules of the substance together. Positively charged atoms (ions) of the substance are pulled toward the negatively charged oxygen atoms of the water molecules surrounding the substance, and negatively charged atoms (ions) are pulled toward the positively charged hydrogen atoms of water molecules. Salts, sugars, acids, alkalis, and gases dissolve in easily in water. While water dissolves a large number of substances, it is not the universal solvent. If it was, you would dissolve when you took a shower — an unpleasant prospect! Ice Crystals Need Their Space Ice is less dense than water, enabling this huge iceberg to float on the ocean. Image courtesy of the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program . Water molecules in the liquid state like hanging out together as droplets, but in the solid (frozen) state, they need their space.

Their hydrogen bonds link them together like acrobats, stacked one on top of the other, with their arms and legs outstretched. This provides more space between the molecules in the crystal structure of ice than the molecules of liquid water. The solid form of water - ice - is less dense than the liquid form. Water is the only known non-metallic substance that expands when it freezes; its density decreases and it expands approximately 9% by volume. This decreased density allows the solid form of water to float on the liquid form. Such a minor detail has many far-reaching consequences (beyond the tragedy of the Titanic). If solid ice were denser than water, it would sink, potentially displacing or killing bottom-dwelling aquatic life. In the most extreme conditions, there would be no way to melt the ice in deep lakes and oceans and it would thicken from the bottom to the surface, forming permanently frozen bodies of ice and disrupting Earth's water cycle. Water Keeps Our Temperatures Constant Water has a high specific heat capacity. This is the amount of heat energy required to increase the temperature of a certain volume (usually a gram or a kilogram) of a substance by a certain amount, usually one degree Celsius.

Water can absorb a lot of heat before its temperature goes up. This property allows the water in our atmosphere and ocean to help regulate or buffer the rate at which our temperatures change. This is why deserts, with little water vapor in the air, get cold very quickly at night and get hot quickly during the day. This is also why areas very close to oceans or large bodies of water have more gradual temperature shifts day to day or season to season. Water even helps regulate the temperatures of living things; all organisms are made of a significant amount of water by weight! For example, while the exact percentage varies, water makes up about 60% of the body weight of humans. Scientists Look for Ice in Our Solar System Ice has been discovered across our solar system from Earth to Mars, to the rings of Saturn, to the orbiting comets. Recent discoveries suggest it exists at Mercury's poles! Future exploration of our Moon encompasses the search for water, which would be a valuable resource for future human outposts. Ice Isn't Just Water When you think of ice, you probably think of the ice cubes that you put in drinks, or of snow, or even of the ice on which the polar bears and penguins live (but at opposite poles!).

In our solar system there are different types of ice. Planetary scientists consider ice to be substances that, although we normally find them as liquids or gases at room temperature on Earth, occur as solids, usually crystalline, in the colder temperatures of our solar system. Water is one of these substances! Ammonia, methane, and carbon dioxide also occur as ices on other planets and moons. Facts about Earth - Earth Day Back to Facts of the Day Calendar UK Calendar dates british festivals .... folklore ... anniversaries .... on this day Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event that aims to inspire awareness of and appreciation for our environment. There are two different observances of Earth Day, both held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere. The United Nations celebrates Earth Day each year on the vernal (March) equinox; while a global observance in many countries is held each year on 22 April. Facts about Earth Age: 4.6 billion years old (Life as we know it, has only existed on the planet for the last 150 million to 200 million years) Position: 3rd planet from the sun. Size: 5th largest planet in our solar system.

Diameter: The Earth has an average diameter of 12,742 kilometers. (7,926 miles) Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in its three states of matter: as a solid (ice), a liquid (sea, rain, etc.) and as a gas (clouds). The length of time it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun is 365 and a quarter days. To make up this extra quarter which isn't counted at the end of a year, we have an extra day every four years on 29th February. Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour. The centre of the Earth, its core, is molten. This means that it is liquid rock which sometimes erupts onto the surface through volcanic eruptions. This core is 7,500°c, hotter than the surface of the Sun! Earth is the only planet in the Solar System not to be named after a mythical God. Only 29% of the surface is actually 'earth.' The rest of the planet's surface (71%) is made up of water. Also on this day ........

britishmarbles.org.uk Marbles, a once popular playground game, is taken to the most competitive level in the British and World Marbles Championship, at The Greyhound, Tinsley Green in Sussex, England The game of marbles has been played for hundreds of years and some historians say that it might have been started by rolling eggs. In the past, round stones, hazelnuts, round balls of baked clay and even cherry stones have been used. In some place in England, Good Frday was called Marble Day or Long Rope Day. All through Lent the traditional games marbles and skipping were played. The games were stopped on the stroke of twelve noon on Good Friday. Water Found in Extrasolar Planet's Atmosphere Water Found in Extrasolar Planet's Atmosphere By Ker Than | April 10, 2007 12:21pm ET MORE Updated 1:15 pm ET Astronomers have detected water in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system for the first time. The finding, to be detailed in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal, confirms previous theories that say water vapor should be present in the atmospheres of nearly all the known extrasolar planets.

Even hot Jupiters , gaseous planets that orbit closer to their stars than Mercury to our Sun, are thought to have water. The discovery, announced today, means one of the most crucial elements for life as we know it can exist around planets orbiting other stars. "We know that water vapor exists in the atmospheres of one extrasolar planet and there is good reason to believe that other extrasolar planets contain water vapor," said Travis Barman, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona who made the discovery. HD209458b is a world well-known among planet hunters. In 1999, it became the first planet to be directly observed around a normal star outside our solar system and, a few years later, was the first exoplanet confirmed to have oxygen and carbon in its atmosphere. HD209458b is separated from its star by only about 4 million miles (7 million kilometers)-about 100 times closer than Jupiter is to our Sun-and is so hot scientists think about it is losing about 10,000 tons of material every second as vented gas. "Water actually survives over a broad range of temperatures," Barman explained.

"It would need to get quite a bit hotter to completely break the water molecules apart." Using a combination of previously published Hubble Space Telescope measurements and new theoretical models, Barman found strong evidence for water absorption in the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet HD209458b. Barman took advantage of the fact that HD209458b is a so-called "transiting planet," meaning it passes directly in front of its star as seen from Earth. It transits every three-and-a-half days. When this happens, water vapor in the planet's atmosphere causes the planet to appear slightly larger in the infrared part of the starlight than in the visible portion. Barman found the water signature after applying new theoretical models he developed to visible and infrared Hubble data collected by Harvard student Heather Knutson last year, which measured the perceived size of the planet over a broad range of wavelengths. "I simulated the passage of starlight through the atmosphere of the planet, and was able to reproduce the variation that they saw," Barman told SPACE.com. "And since I know exactly what physics and chemistry went into my simulation, I know precisely what caused those variations, and I can attribute those variations to water" or other molecules.

Barman said his discovery would not have been possible without the observations made by the Harvard team. "This is an example of theoretical modeling and observations coming together to help identify something new and interesting about this planet," he said. Activity 3 Teacher Guide: It's Just a Phase It's Just a Phase: Water as a Solid, Liquid, and Gas In this activity, students will construct models of the way water molecules arrange themselves in the three physical states. Students will understand that matter can be found in three forms or phases (solid, liquid, and gas). Using physical models, students will be able to explain the molecular behavior of ice, water, and water vapor. Background Water is an essential part of the earth system. Water is special not only because it covers over 70% of the earth's surface, but also because it is the only known substance that can exist in gaseous, liquid, and solid phases within the relatively narrow range of temperatures and pressures found on earth. Water's special qualities come from the unique shape of the water molecule. Each molecule contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, arranged such that one side of the molecule (nearest the hydrogens) is positively charged while the other side (nearest the oxygen) is negatively charged.

If two water molecules come together, the positive side of one is attracted to the negative side of the other, making the molecules cling together. This simple fact accounts for the high heat capacity, surface tension, cohesion, adhesion, and other characteristics that make water so important to the earth's biosphere. In general, when considering the states of matter, solids are more dense than liquids and liquids are more dense than gases. Water is a bit of a contrarian in this regard. When water is in its solid state (ice), the water molecules are packed close together preventing it from changing shape. Ice has a very regular pattern with the molecules rigidly apart from one another connected by the hydrogen bonds that form a crystalline lattice. These crystals have a number of open regions and pockets making ice less dense than liquid water. This is why ice floats on water. Ice forms when the temperature is below freezing (0°Celsius or 32°Fahrenheit). When ice is warmed above freezing, it melts and becomes liquid water. As a liquid, the attractive forces between molecules weaken and individual molecules can begin to move around each other. Because the molecules can slip and slide around one another, water takes the shape of any container it is in.

The third state of water is the gaseous state (water vapor). In this state, water molecules move very rapidly and are not bound together. Although we cannot see water in its gaseous state, we can feel it in the air on a hot, humid day. Commonly, water boils at a temperature of 100°C or 212°F, forming water vapor. Many people believe that the visible plume of steam from a boiling kettle is water vapor. However, the steam that you see consists of very small water droplets suspended in the air, while water vapor is the invisible gas that results when water evaporates. We can "see" water vapor through the electromagnetic eyes of infrared-sensing instruments. Water cycles endlessly throughout the atmosphere, oceans, land, and life of planet earth, taking each physical state at one time or another. In this activity, students will construct models of the way water molecules arrange themselves in the three physical states. This should help them understand some of the workings of the water cycle. At this stage in the students' learning, a precise understanding of the molecular forces and energy interactions that lead to phase changes is not necessary.

Learning Goals Students will understand that matter can be found in three forms or phases (solid, liquid, and gas). Using physical models, students will be able to explain the molecular behavior of ice, water, and water vapor. Alignment to National Standards National Science Education Standards Unifying Concepts and Processes, Grades K to 12, pg. 117: "Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events and that have explanatory power. Models help scientists and engineers understand how things work. Models take many forms, including physical objects, plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer simulations." Physical Science, Grades 9 to 12, Structure and Properties of Matter, pg. 179, Item #4: "The physical properties of compounds reflect the nature of the interactions among its molecules. These interactions are determined by the structure of the molecule, including the constituent atoms and the distances and angles between them." Physical Science, Grades 9 to 12, Structure and Properties of Matter, pg. 179, Item #5: "Solids, liquids, and gases differ in the distances and angles between molecules or atoms and therefore the energy that binds them together.

In solids the structure is nearly rigid; in liquids molecules or atoms move around each other but do not move apart; and in gases molecules or atoms move almost independently of each other and are mostly far apart." Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061, AAAS Common Themes, Models, Grades 6 to 8, pg. 269, Item #1: "Models are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly, or that are too vast to be changed deliberately, or that are potentially dangerous." The Physical Setting, Structure of Matter, Grades 6 to 8, pg. 78, Item #1: "All matter is made up of atoms, which are far too small to see directly through a microscope. The atoms of any element are alike but are different from atoms of other elements. Atoms may stick together in well-defined molecules or may be packed together in large arrays. Different arrangements of atoms into groups compose all substances." The Physical Setting, Structure of Matter, Grades 6 to 8, pg. 78, Item #3: "Atoms and molecules are perpetually in motion.

Increased temperature means greater average energy of motion, so most substances expand when heated." Grade Level/Time Grade level: 6 to 9 Note that at grades 9 and above, the activity would be more useful as a quick introductory demonstration that leads to discussion of the molecular and energetic basis of the phases. Time: Teacher introduction to phases: 20 minutes Student model building: 30 minutes Discussion: 15 minutes Petri dishes (three per team - plastic ones work best) Tape Chart of the water cycle Procedure Start with a short lecture on the nature of solid, liquid, and gaseous water. Your goal is to give some understanding that water molecules themselves don't change when the state of the matter changes, but that the interaction between molecules changes. You might wish to use copies of the graphics above to explain the phases. Explain that a water molecule is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. To illustrate what a molecule looks like, ask each student to visualize his or her head as being the oxygen atom with their two fists representing the hydrogen atoms. Put students into teams of three. Give each team three petri dishes, a supply of BBs, and some tape.

Challenge them to imagine that each dish is a VERY enlarged part of a phase of water: one dish is ice, one is liquid, and one is vapor. The BBs represent the water molecules themselves. Ask what the water molecules look like in each phase. Give no more instructions than that and let the students puzzle over the assignment for a few minutes. If they need hints, ask: In which form are the molecules most tightly held together? What would that look like in the petri dish? This will likely "jump-start" some imaginations. Typically, students will arrive at similar models within a short time that look something like this: Note: Most students will produce models similar to those illustrated in the graphic above. While generally accurate for liquid water and water vapor, the model is wrong for ice, though it reflects a very common misconception about the structure of ice. Most students (and most people) would explain that solid things are always denser than liquid and gaseous things, forgetting that water is a powerful and important exception to this rule.

Allow the students to produce the models as they see fit, but then challenge them to explain, from their model, how ice floats in water (presumably the students will be familiar with the concept of density, and with the fact that less dense things float on more dense things). They should recognize that the packed BBs in the ice model are too dense to float in water! You may wish to have a petri dish previously prepared to illustrate the density of ice, with drops of superglue molding the BBs onto the dish such that the BBs are spread out more than in the water. Next you should draw lines between the BBs on the dish, indicating that the BBs are bonded together as illustrated below. Place each dish on an overhead projector and jiggle it to show how the molecules move, or in the case of the ice model, don't move. Weather permitting, take your class outside and divide them into groups of six to eight. Have the students demonstrate how their group would look if they were water molecules in the three different phases. Back in the classroom, discuss what the water molecules looked like in each phase of the activity.

Students (of all ages) often think that "liquid water molecules" are different from "ice molecules" or "vapor molecules." Emphasize that the molecules DO NOT change, only their arrangement, and that the same holds true for all other matter as well. Assessment Ideas Observe the groups as they work in the lab or outside to identify students who are having conceptual troubles. At the end of the lesson, give students yet another model idea to diagram and explain individually. For example: Imagine that the closet is an ice cube and that the water molecules are red balloons. If you open the closet door, what will you see? Now, using red balloons as molecules again, imagine that the closet is full of liquid water. What will be different when you open the door? How will it differ if there's water vapor in the closet instead? Have students draw diagrams and/or explain on a separate sheet of paper and turn in. Modifications for Alternative Learners Make sure that students can use labeled diagrams without abundant text for any written report or assessment. When you're finished with the activity, click on Back to Activities List at the top of the page to return to the activity menu.

What Makes Earth Special Compared to Other Planets What Makes Earth Special Compared to Other Planets By Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor | July 8, 2008 07:00am ET MORE This image, taken while MESSENGER was 34,692 miles (55,831 kilometers) above Earth, shows the Galapagos Islands as tiny specks peeking through clouds. The line dividing day and night cuts through South America, with night about to fall on the western half of the continent. The large bright spot to the west of South America is the Sun’s light scattering off ocean waves. Credit: NASA/JHU/APL. Earth is one special planet. It has liquid water, plate tectonics, and an atmosphere that shelters it from the worst of the sun's rays. But many scientists agree our planet's most special feature might just be us. "It?s the only planet we know of that has life," said Alan Boss, a planet formation theorist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington, D.C.

Though other bodies in our solar system, such as Saturn's moon Titan, seem like they could have once been hospitable to some form of life, and scientists still have hope of eventually digging up microbes beneath the surface of Mars , Earth is still the only world known to support life. "So far, we haven't found it anywhere else," said Alex Wolszczan of Pennsylvania State University, who co-discovered the first planets beyond our solar system. He agreed that life was Earth's single most impressive characteristic. None of this is a revelation, but understanding what's special about Earth is crucial for finding other planets out there and predicting what they might be like. The fact that Earth hosts not just life, but intelligent life, makes it doubly unique. And the planet's intelligent life (humanity) has even developed rockets that enable travel beyond the planet, said Gregory Laughlin, astrophysicist and planet hunter at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "During the last half century, the planet Earth has fashioned together tiny pieces of the metal in its crust, and has flung these delicately constructed objects to all of the other planets in the solar system," Laughlin said, adding that these achievements should be counted as an exemplary trait of our planet.

"From our anthropocentric viewpoint, we naturally separate ourselves from the planet that we live on, but if one adopts the point of view of an external observer, it is the 'planet' (taken as a whole) that has done these remarkable things," he told SPACE.com. Water World To enable life, this most special of attributes, planet Earth has a number of ideal features . It is unique among planets in our solar system for having water in its liquid form at the surface, in an amount conducive to life evolving. "The most impressive attribute of the Earth is the existence and amount of liquid water on its surface," said Geoffrey Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley who has helped discover dozens of extrasolar planets. No one knows why Earth has the exact amount of water it does, which is relatively small considering that water molecules outnumber silicate molecules in the galaxy, he said. "The Earth is remarkable for its precisely-tuned amount of water, not too much to cover the mountains, and not so little that it's a dry desert, as are Mars and Venus, our 'sister' planets," he said. Goldilocks planet Earth's water is also special in that it has remained liquid for so long.

How has Earth been able to hold on to its oceans while those on other planets freeze or fry? "Many details as to why Earth is the only planet with liquid water in our solar system need to be worked out," said Diana Valencia, a graduate student in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. "Certainly the distance to the sun has made it possible. A planet much farther in would receive too much energy from the sun, and a planet too far out would quickly freeze." Our planet's Goldilocks-like "just right" location in the solar system has helped, as has its system of plate tectonics ? the slip-sliding movements of Earth's crust that are thought to have created the planet's towering mountain ranges and plummeting ocean depths. "The fact that Earth has plate tectonics allows for the carbon-silicate cycle to operate over geological timescales," Valencia said. "With the carbon-silicate cycle, the levels of carbon in the atmosphere get regulated to keep the surface temperature around that of liquid water." Plate tectonics and water are inextricably linked.

Not only does plate tectonics enable liquid water to exist by way of regulating the temperature, but many scientists have argued water enables plate tectonics to happen. "Without water the planet would be geologically dead," said Caltech's Mike Brown, discoverer of the newly reclassified "plutoid" object named Eris, which lies beyond Pluto in our solar system. "Water is what lubricates plate tectonics, which is what leads to the extreme difference between continents and seafloors, the large amount of earthquakes and volcanoes, fresh mountain-building. Venus has no water, no plate tectonics, no deep sea floor, no steep mountains, no continents, probably few earthquakes or volcanoes. A much less geologically interesting place!" Another "just-right" aspect of Earth is its size: If it was much smaller, it wouldn't be able to hold on to our precious atmosphere, but much larger and it might be a gas giant too hot for life. The presence of our big brother planet, Jupiter, farther out in the solar system blocking Earth from much of the incoming debris, has also helped Earth become a safe haven for life.

Jupiter acts like a giant broom, sweeping the solar system of debris ? rocks as small as cars and as huge as moons ? that could snuff out life in one fatal blow. This protective effect was particularly helpful in the solar system's early years, when Earth still got pummeled but, scientists say, not nearly as bad as would have been the case without Jupiter. A friendly moon Life on Earth may also owe a debt to our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon. Earth's moon stabilizes our planet's rotation, preventing drastic movements of the poles that could cause massive changes in climate that some scientists think could have doomed any chance for budding life to form or evolve. The moon also helpfully pulls the ocean's tides, which scientists suggest might have been the perfect place for early life to begin evolving to survive on land. Though Earth has the necessary ingredients for life, it's unclear whether the development of life here might have been a one-time fluke, or if it's something that happens pretty much everywhere the conditions are right. Rare Earth All of these features make Earth special among known planets near and far.

"You hear all the time how Earth-like Mars is, but if you were taken to Mars you wouldn?t feel happy there at all," said University of Washington astronomer Don Brownlee, author of the book "Rare Earth" (Springer, 2003). "It's not Earth-like. And Titan, when the [Huygens] probe landed, there was all this stuff in the media about how Earth-like it is. Earth-like? It is completely different. It has all this methane on the surface. Venus has about the same mass [as Earth], almost the same distance from the sun. But it?s a totally different place ? no oceans, no plate tectonics ? and it's not a place you would want to be." So far, we haven't seen any planet outside the solar system come very close to Earth either. Of the nearly 300 new worlds glimpsed elsewhere in the galaxy, most are "hot Jupiters" ? large planets that orbit close to their stars, on which life and liquid water are unlikely to exist. "I doubt that in our galaxy typical stars have planets just like Earth around them," Brownlee said.

"I'm sure there are lots of planets in the galaxy that are somewhat similar to Earth, but the idea that this is a typical planet is nonsensical." Brownlee's view may be in the minority, however. Not-so-special Earth As our planet-hunting technology improves, many planet hunters expect to find Earth's twin . The search has led scientists to debate whether Earth is really as special as we think it is. "In the past 10 years, everything has been pointing in the direction of, 'Hey, the solar system, which we thought was unique, is not unique at all,'" said Alan Boss. Boss and many other scientists think it's likely that some form of life exists on some of those countless other planets out there. "Certainly there will be other planets that support life," he said. "I think life is actually quite common. I think we're going to find there are literally billions of them in the galaxy." Interesting Facts about the Earth Follow Us Interesting Facts about the Earth Are you curious about the planet that we live in? Looking for some exciting, interesting facts about Earth? The following article is just for you then. Advertisement Our planet is truly very interesting.

While 70% of it is covered with water, the most advanced life form on Earth is found on its land mass. It is this life form, that is responsible for the damage to the existence of life. Any guesses which life form it is? Yes, it's us, the mighty bipedal animals that rule this kingdom, and slowly dragging it to ruin. Interesting Facts Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. That means that while the core is liquid, the crust floats on the core of the planet. Around 47% of the crust consists of oxygen. Earth is a big magnet, with poles at the top and bottom of the planet. It takes the Earth 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, to rotate on its axis. That means a day is not exactly 24 hours. A year is 365.2564 days and not 365 days. The extra .2564 days is why leap years were created. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in all three states of matter: (solid) ice, (liquid) sea, rain, etc. and (gas) clouds.

It is believed that millions of years ago, a day was approximately 20 hours long. The Earth will appear as the brightest of the 8 planets, if viewed from a specific distance in space. This is because the water bodies on it reflect large amount of sunlight. These were some facts about the planet, let's take a look at what truly makes this planet special. Things Less Known El Azizia (Libya) is the hottest place on Earth, and Vostok (Antarctica) is the coldest. Rain has never been recorded in some parts of the Atacama Desert in Chile. Venice in Italy is gradually sinking in the water. It is built on 118 sea islets joined by 400 bridges. A California bristlecone pine name 'Methuselah' is the oldest living tree. It is almost 4600 years old. The Antarctic Notothenia fish can't freeze in the icy waters of its habitat, as it has a protein in its blood that acts like antifreeze and prevents freezing. Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother's womb. The surviving embryo of the shark is born.

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, is the name for a hill, 305 meters (1,000 ft) high, close to Porangahau, New Zealand. It is the longest officially recognized name of a place, the name has 85 letters. There is one chicken for every human being on Earth. Humans grow by about 0.3 inches every night in sleep, but shrink back to normal during the day. Bones are five times stronger than steel. To conclude, I hope that one day when someone else from another planet is writing on interesting facts about our planet, they don't mention this. "Earth is the only planet with life in the milky way. The most progressive life form of which were the Humans, who ironically brought about extinction on the blue planet." Gagan Dhillon

Question: Which is the only planet in our solar system to have water in three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas?
Answer: Earth