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The sparseness of interstellar and interplanetary space results in some unusual chemistry, since symmetry-forbidden reactions cannot occur except on the longest of timescales. For this reason, molecules and molecular ions which are unstable on Earth can be highly abundant in space, for example the H 3 + ion.
Water is one of the simplest molecules, composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, and can be found in all celestial bodies of the solar system. However, water is only useful for life in a liquid state, and extraterrestrial water is commonly found as water vapor or ice. Liquid water also has several properties that are beneficial for lifeforms.
Molecular astrophysics, developed into a rigorous field of investigation by theoretical astrochemist Alexander Dalgarno beginning in 1967, concerns the study of emission from molecules in space. There are 110 currently known interstellar molecules. These molecules have large numbers of observable transitions.
Water molecules have been detected on the surface of asteroids for the first time, proving that these remnants from the formation of our solar system aren’t just dried-up space rocks.
The spectrum of a particular molecule is governed by the selection rules of quantum chemistry and by its molecular symmetry. Some molecules have simple spectra which are easy to identify, whilst others (even some small molecules) have extremely complex spectra with flux spread among many different lines, making them far harder to detect. [3]
Water covers about 71% of the Earth's surface, with seas and oceans making up most of the water volume (about 96.5%). [23] Small portions of water occur as groundwater (1.7%), in the glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland (1.7%), and in the air as vapor, clouds (consisting of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and ...
Stellar molecules are molecules that exist or form in stars. Such formations can take place when the temperature is low enough for molecules to form – typically around 6,000 K (5,730 °C; 10,340 °F) or cooler. [1] Otherwise the stellar matter is restricted to atoms and ions in the forms of gas or – at very high temperatures – plasma.
The term outward space existed in a poem from 1842 by the English poet Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley called "The Maiden of Moscow", [13] but in astronomy the term outer space found its application for the first time in 1845 by Alexander von Humboldt. [14] The term was eventually popularized through the writings of H. G. Wells after 1901. [15]