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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 boundary of the region where ice could form in the early Solar System is known as the frost line (or snow line), and is located in the modern asteroid belt, between about 2.7 and 3.1 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. [23] [24] It is therefore necessary that objects forming beyond the frost line–such as comets, trans-Neptunian objects ...
In geology, the frost line is the level down to which the soil will normally freeze each winter. By an analogy, the term is introduced in other areas. Frost line (astrophysics), a particular distance in the solar nebula from the central protosun where it is cool enough for hydrogen compounds such as water, ammonia, and methane to condense into solid ice grains.
Planetesimals beyond the frost line accumulated up to 4 M E within about 3 million years. [38] Today, the four giant planets comprise just under 99% of all the mass orbiting the Sun. [b] Theorists believe it is no accident that Jupiter lies just beyond the frost line. Because the frost line accumulated large amounts of water via evaporation ...
An artist's illustration giving a simple overview of the main regions of a protoplanetary disk, delineated by the soot and frost line, which for example has been observed around the star V883 Orionis. [15] The nebular hypothesis of solar system formation describes how protoplanetary disks are thought to evolve into planetary systems.
According to the solar nebular disk model, rocky planets form in the inner part of the protoplanetary disk, within the frost line, where the temperature is high enough to prevent condensation of water ice and other substances into grains. [64] This results in coagulation of purely rocky grains and later in the formation of rocky planetesimals.
The boundary in the Solar System beyond which those volatile substances could coalesce is known as the frost line, and it lies at roughly five times the Earth's distance from the Sun. [5] Orbits Animations of the Solar System's inner planets orbiting.
Window frost (also called fern frost or ice flowers) forms when a glass pane is exposed to very cold air on the outside and warmer, moderately moist air on the inside. If the pane is a bad insulator (for example, if it is a single-pane window), water vapour condenses on the glass, forming frost patterns.