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The presence of water on the terrestrial planets of the Solar System (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the closely related Earth's Moon) varies with each planetary body, with the exact origins remaining unclear. Additionally, the terrestrial dwarf planet Ceres is known to have water ice on its surface.
Planetary habitability in the Solar System is the study that searches the possible existence of past or present extraterrestrial life in those celestial bodies. As exoplanets are too far away and can only be studied by indirect means, the celestial bodies in the Solar System allow for a much more detailed study: direct telescope observation, space probes, rovers and even human spaceflight.
Water vapour is sometimes considered conclusive evidence for the presence of liquid water, although atmospheric water vapour may be found to exist in many places where liquid water does not. Similar indirect evidence, however, supports the existence of liquids below the surface of several moons and dwarf planets elsewhere in the Solar System ...
The term "Goldilocks zone" emerged in the 1970s, referencing specifically a region around a star whose temperature is "just right" for water to be present in the liquid phase. [34] In 1993, astronomer James Kasting introduced the term "circumstellar habitable zone" to refer more precisely to the region then (and still) known as the habitable ...
Water vapor and ice have been found to be common elements of extraterrestrial atmospheres, however water in liquid form has not been confirmed beyond the Earth. Extraterrestrial liquid water in the Solar System is likely uncommon, although it has been hypothesized to exist in some of its moons, and to have formerly existed on Mars and Venus.
A mineral grain from a meteorite preserved evidence that water was present on Mars 4.45 billion years ago, and it may have created hot springs habitable for life. ‘Black Beauty’ was found on ...
Curiosity's hard work is once again paying off by turning up evidence that liquid water quite likely exists on Mars at this time. A paper published in Nature Geoscience reveals that data collected ...
There are indications that Ceres may have a tenuous atmosphere and water frost on the surface. Surface water ice is unstable at distances less than 5 AU from the Sun, so it is expected to vaporize if it is exposed directly to solar radiation. Water ice can migrate from the deep layers of Ceres to the surface, but escapes in a very short time.