LIFESCI 2H03 Lecture Notes - Water Cycle, Escape Velocity, Runaway Greenhouse Effect
24 Feb 2013
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Document Summary
Until now the only example of a known habitable planet. Earth orbits the sun within a regions . Region where an earth analog planet can maintain liquid water on tis surface. Has the right mass to regulate plate tectonics. The best solvent for life to emerge and evolve in: has the ability to form h-bonds with other h2o molecules. Water is an abundant compound in our galaxy: clouds and stellar clouds. The inner edge of the hz zone, this is where we see runaway greenhouse conditions: all water is found as vapour, no liquid water present. The outer edge of the hz the greenhouse effect fails to keep the planet above the freezing point: the water is frozen and found in the solid form. The earth is found in the hz, the conditions are ideal: distance from the sun is just right, depending on the mass of the star the hz might be closed (small star) or further (large star)
