[meteorite-list] Water in space

From: tracy latimer <daistiho_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue May 31 17:27:16 2005
Message-ID: <BAY102-F260463C09F1AC64F428723CA040_at_phx.gbl>

Exactly! Consider the case of copper carbonate. In its hydrated form, it
is a pretty blue crystal; we used to use it in our swimming hole in low
amounts to kill off algae and weeds. In its anhydrous form, it's a greenish
powder. Don't eat either one; bad. I'm not akamai enough to guess what
hydrates might be present in meteorites, but I'm pretty sure this is what is
meant by water being present in meteorites, chemically bound into various
minerals, which may be released by heating or chemical reaction.

Tracy Latimer

>From: "Chris Peterson" <clp_at_alumni.caltech.edu>

>
>It depends on what form the water is in. In the case of meteorites, surely
>it is in various hydrates. It is far easier to dry out a meteorite in the
>vacuum of space than it is on the Earth, wouldn't you agree? So if the
>bonding of water in the hydrates is strong enough to prevent the former,
>certainly it is strong enough to prevent the latter, also. That kind of
>water storage is quite different from the sponge effect you observed, which
>is probably simple capturing of liquid by capillary action in a porous
>structure. Storage in hydrates is likely to be quite stable; storage as
>liquid is not.
>
>Chris
Received on Tue 31 May 2005 05:27:13 PM PDT