Water in the Universe: the water pathway
Sun-like stars and planetary systems are known to form in interstellar molecular clouds composed mostly of hydrogen and small amounts of other elements like helium, oxygen and carbon.
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Water in the Universe: water on exoplanets
Astronomers have already confirmed more than 2000 planets orbiting other stars. In some of the larger planets, similar to Jupiter, water vapour was detected in their atmospheres. For smaller planets, this detection is more difficult.
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Water in the Universe: the ice mountains of Pluto
A mantle of water ice is probably enclosing Pluto’s rocky core. Images captured by NASA’s New Horizons mission revealed that part of this water ice is visible at the surface.
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Water in the Universe: Venus, a world nearly without water
With an average temperature above 460 ºC, Venus doesn’t have liquid water on its surface, and only some traces of water vapour were found in the planet’s atmosphere.
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Water in the Universe: the plumes of Enceladus
Enceladus wobbles, as it orbits Saturn, and this may be explained by the presence of a liquid layer between the solid core and the crust.
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Water in the Universe: an ocean in Europa
It is thought that, below Europa’s icy crust, there may exist a water ocean that completely covers its rocky interior.
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Water in the Universe: water on Mars
There is water on Mars, but up to recently we believed that it would be present only in the atmosphere and as water ice.
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A star in the winter sky : Herbig-Haro 34 object
Herbig-Haro 34 object (HH 34) is located in the Orion nebula, a broad star formation region that is located to the south of the belt of this famous hunter in the Greek mythology.
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