Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
Because the frost line accumulated large amounts of water via evaporation from infalling icy material, it created a region of lower pressure that increased the speed of orbiting dust particles and halted their motion toward the Sun. In effect, the frost line acted as a barrier that caused the material to accumulate rapidly at ~5 AU from the Sun.
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.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
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.
Water is far more prevalent in the outer Solar System, beyond a point called the frost line, where the Sun's radiation is too weak to vaporize solid and liquid water (as well as other elements and chemical compounds with relatively low melting points, such as methane and ammonia). In the inner Solar System, planets, asteroids, and moons formed ...
Discover the best free online games at AOL.com - Play board, card, casino, puzzle and many more online games while chatting with others in real-time.
Why Apple TV+ is offering a free weekend of binge-watching. Lighter Side. Good Morning America. Daughter gives dad a pic composed of daily text messages he sent her over the years. News.