Space is frigid, and studies have repeatedly indicated that ice exists abundantly throughout the cosmos. Nevertheless, even though it shares a common name with the ice we encounter in glaciers or our freezers here on Earth, new findings suggest that the frozen water found on frigid planets, comets, and even in the cosmic dust drifting through space is quite distinct from the ice you might place over your soda.
To begin with, although it appears to be an amorphous solid, ice is actually composed of numerous nanoscopic crystals, each measuring only a few billionths of a meter in width, if that. So, what distinguishes Earth ice from space ice? According to researchers, Earth ice consists of well-ordered lattice crystal formations. These exhibit the six-fold symmetry characteristic of snowflakes in their foundational structure.
However, it has long been understood that space ice possesses a different arrangement. Due to the near-vacuum conditions found in space, the water frozen there is believed to have lacked the requisite energy to form these orderly lattice structures. Scientists assumed they were primarily composed of randomly arranged crystals. Yet, new research is contesting this viewpoint.
Rather than being formed solely from random crystallized configurations, the researchers discovered that for the ice they created in their experiments to accurately imitate space ice, it was necessary to impart some structural organization—approximately 20% of the total framework. Even more fascinating is that when slightly heated, they observed that the crystals maintain the structure present in their initial designs.
This implies that the ice retains a portion of its historical memory, which could significantly aid in future investigations of frozen water in space. Additionally, it might fundamentally alter our comprehension of how life originated on Earth, an idea researchers have long speculated occurred as amino acids traveled within the frozen water of comets.
However, if space ice preserves some characteristics of its original formation, then the available spaces for those acids to develop and thrive would be even scarcer than previously believed. Naturally, the study is far from conclusive, and additional research will be necessary to validate these results. For the time being, though, they pose intriguing inquiries about our understanding of how the universe and space ice function.
