Evidence of liquid water in comets reveals possible origin of life

COMETS CONTAIN WATER

The water is liquid when the comet is close to the Sun, but it is ice when the comet moves to the outer region of the solar system.

With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
http://myprofile....anuelo09

The formation of solar system planet(oid)s is, according to all that I have read, based on the theory of accretion of small amounts of matter into loose collections within a band of orbit, where the gravity between the matter in that orbit is sufficient to attract the matter together into collections of gradually increasing mass.



I have not read description of the accretion process that indicates the phase shifts that may occur for matter involved in gradually more violent collisions of higher mass objects in the same orbit, but have read about the formation of Earth's core in isolation from the accretion process that created it. If Iron with a mix of mineral impurities can turn to liquid, (and then plasma), due to the pressure induced by the mass (and density) of material that sits on the surface of the 'collection', then is it possible that other matter is suspended in not solid form within other planet(oid)s?



How much pressure would be required to force ice to become liquid?



Water is 'tricky'. Scientists are still being surprised by the phase changes water presents in different circumstances and conditions. We (all?) know that water expands when it is frozen, but not everyone understands that large masses of water at significant sub-zero temperatures flow as liquid in the polar regions of Earth. In laboratory conditions, water has remained liquid at above boiling point, and has 're-liquefied' at way below zero.



We know that life on Earth requires liquid water. But in space, does life need liquid water at Earth temperatures? Even on Earth, we have found life that 'reanimates' when the ice suspending it melts (not quite cryogenic freezing, but similar). We (all?) have seen the fascinating movies from robots near the Ocean floor filming thermal vents of super-heated liquid water with many mineral impurities that we would consider lethally poisonous, being 'enjoyed' by many diverse forms of life %u2013 some being distinct adaptations of animals we are familiar with.



The question is, could similar life exist in objects with liquid water at their core, and would that life survive on star light in the absence of sunlight?



At the Oort Cloud distance from the Sun, the Sun appears as the brightest star in the sky, but not the significant heat and light source that it is for us. The temperatures in space at that distant are unimaginably low (as far was we know), but that should not condition our thinking about the objects that exist in the Oort Cloud which got its name from the discoverer and the fact that those objects are primarily ice.



We know that conditions on the inside of a planetoid are significantly different from those of the surface so, it is possible that large ice based planetoids could produce enough internal pressure to liquefy their cores, as our iron based planet has?



Last question, (answers are desired): how can we detect, locate, observe, analyse and see inside of a Jupiter sized ice block somewhere between the Oort Cloud and the Sun?

Last question, (answers are desired): how can we detect, locate, observe, analyse and see inside of a Jupiter sized ice block somewhere between the Oort Cloud and the Sun?

I would use a high-powered Laser, perhaps located on the lunar surface, which is mirrored to light up small quadrants of the Oort Cloud, and then observe the reflections using Hubble. Ideally, the laser would be capable of transmitting several different wavelengths.

DGB: Sunlight is not enough? Hubble cannot 'see' Oort Cloud objects?

DGB: Sunlight is not enough? Hubble cannot 'see' Oort Cloud objects?

The laser would enable us to see objects which are shaded from the sun, as well as to precisely measure the distances (TOA) of each, giving us a near 3-dimensional image (if two lasers are used ,that is) at least of the objects on our side of the cloud.
This was just an idea...I'm sure there are other possible ways to do it.

Ray Cherry, DGB, check for Oort cloud interlopers in the outer solar system by comparing 2MASS IR observations with current programs like UKIDSS or MASH to look for candidates. Jupiter mass objects should be IR bright!