Jakarta –
Planet foreigners and the Moon, are known to experience the same rain as on Earth. Still, scientists were surprised to learn that the raindrops on other planets are similar to those on Earth, even though their environment was very different.
Throughout our solar system, there are several different worlds where we can find rain. On Earth, rainfall is common. However, research also tells us that there is sulfuric acid rain on Venus, and precipitation rain (the result of the condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere) consists of helium and diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn.
In addition, there is also liquid methane rain on Saturn’s moon Titan. On Mars there is actually rain, but we will not see raindrops on the Red Planet today. Water vapor forms clouds of ice crystals high in the atmosphere, but they are too cold and dry to produce raindrops. Ancient Mars was warmer and wetter, and it rained as much as it does on Earth today.
In fact, as quoted from The Weather Network, several exoplanet those orbiting stars other than our sun are also known to have rain, although the rain may be iron or molten rock.
In a recent study, two Harvard University scientists, Kaitlyn Loftus and Robin Wordsworth, examined how raindrops behave on other planets, compared to their behavior in Earth’s environment. It turned out that the findings were very surprising.
Regardless of how different a planet is from Earth, or what material the rain is made of, the maximum size of raindrops is not that different from the raindrops we see on Earth.
“There is a fairly small range of stable sizes of raindrops with different compositions. They are all basically limited to the same maximum size,” said Loftus, the study’s lead author, in his report published in the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
The limiting factor in how large a raindrop can grow on these various planets, appears to be influenced by the gravitational pull of the planet or the Moon. In particular, the stronger the gravity, the smaller the raindrops.
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Foto: American Geophysical Union– |
In the infographic above, the raindrops on each planet vary. However, taking into account the relative masses and gravitational pull of these planets, the difference in maximum droplet size is not as wide as might be expected. To note, Jupiter’s gravity is more than 2.5 times Earth’s, while Titan’s gravity is only 14% of Earth’s.
There is one thing that is very consistent with the shape of the raindrops. ‘Teardrop’ or teardrop is the most classic form used to describe raindrops. But the shape of these droplets is actually initially spherical, then flattens out as they fall in the air. The end result is a raindrop that is flat at the bottom and rounded at the top, like a hamburger bun.
Loftus and Wordsworth also applied the same calculations to planets in other star systems. By doing so, they were able to determine the optimal range of sizes of raindrops that would reach the surface of a planet. This is done by looking at three specific characteristics of raindrops: their shape, the speed at which they fall, and their rate of evaporation.
“The cloud life cycle is very important when we think about the viability of a planet. But clouds and precipitation are really complex and too complex to fully model. We are looking for a simpler way to understand how clouds evolve, and the first step is whether cloud droplets evaporate. in the atmosphere or cause it to surface as rain, “says Loftus.
Planet anywhere that has significant water rainfall reaching the surface, can have a fully manifested water cycle like Earth. Thus, the probability that a planet with such rain is habitable for us will increase.
“Simple raindrops are an important component of the rainfall cycle for all the planets. If we understand how raindrops behave, we can better represent rainfall in complex climate models. We can use them to model cloud cycles on exoplanets,” said Wordsworth.
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