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In astronomy or planetary science, the frost line, also known as the snow line or ice line, is the minimum distance from the central protostar of a solar nebula where the temperature is low enough for volatile compounds such as water, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to condense into solid grains, which will allow their accretion into planetesimals.
The snow line is measured using automatic cameras, aerial photographs, or satellite images. Because the snow line can be established without on-the-ground measurements, it can be measured in remote and difficult to access areas. Therefore, the snow line has become an important variable in hydrological models. [2]
The ablation zone is found at the lowest altitude of the glacier, where ablation of material is lesser than accumulation. Ablation zone or ablation area refers to the low-altitude area of a glacier or ice sheet below firn with a net loss in ice mass due to melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving, aeolian processes like blowing snow, avalanche, and any other ablation.
The mass balance of land-based glaciers and ice sheets is determined by the accumulation of snow, mostly in winter, and warm-season ablation due primarily to net radiation and turbulent heat fluxes to melting ice and snow from warm-air advection [13] [14] Where ice masses terminate in the ocean, iceberg calving is the major contributor to mass ...
Small Solar System bodies – smallest bodies, including asteroids, comets, Kuiper belt objects, and dust. Astronomy divided by general technique used for astronomical research: Astrometry – study of the position of objects in the sky and their changes of position. Defines the system of coordinates used and the kinematics of objects in our ...
A planetary mnemonic refers to a phrase created to remember the planets and dwarf planets of the Solar System, with the order of words corresponding to increasing sidereal periods of the bodies. One simple visual mnemonic is to hold out both hands side-by-side with thumbs in the same direction (typically left-hand facing palm down, and right ...
The lower diagram shows the equal angle swept by the Sun in a geostatic model. A similar diagram can be drawn for a star except that the angle of parallax would be minuscule. The most important fundamental distance measurements in astronomy come from trigonometric parallax, as applied in the stellar parallax method. As the Earth orbits the Sun ...
The Milky Way creates a Zone of Avoidance for local observers. The Zone of Avoidance (ZOA, ZoA), or Zone of Galactic Obscuration (ZGO), [1] [2] is the area of the sky that is obscured by the Milky Way.