Laythe

[7499275]

Has anyone ever noticed we have liquid water on Kerbin/Earth because the planet is just the right distance from the sun, not to close, not to far, but Laythe is near Jupiter and has liquid water flowing on its surface, I know its a game but how would that be possible?

Does Jool heat the planet enough through its massive gravity or through the friction from the gasses swirling around it?

[JelloTickles]

I've also been wondering this too. But, that moon in Jupiter's orbit has liquid methane, or something else. It also flows on it's surface. So it might be one of those things you just suggested.

[7499275]

Does liquid methane occur at really high or really low temperatures?

[JelloTickles]

Does liquid methane occur at really high or really low temperatures?

I googled that moon and it's name is Titan. And liquid methane does occur at low temperatures, -296 degrees F. Ethane also flows on it's surface and that also happens at really low temperatures (-297 degrees F).

I guess that doesn't explain the liquid water flowing on Laythe's surface.

[darkside]

Greenhouse effect maybe. But then there should be a cloud cover. Well, one can always assume that things just work differently in Kerbal universe.

[7499275]

In real life Jupiter has no moon with liquid water, it has a moon that is a solid chunk of ice. In KSP you have a moon orbiting Jool that is ice as well but another in the same SOI that's liquid which seems impossible.

[Sir Nahme]

mostly because it isn't water

HarvestR implied it was an ammonia compound at one point

[Black_Tomcat]

Many people say there is volcanism on Laythe, so that should melt the ice/water.

Also there was something like radiation (heat?) from Jool.

Just repeating what I heard from others ^^

[sal_vager]

I think Nova mentioned that Laythe has a lot of heavier elements, so radioactive decay should be considered

[7499275]

An ammonia compound? Well that would explain it not freezing into a solid block of ice

If it is water the radiation heat from Jool ( Mentioned in original post ) makes sense

[rryy]

I think Laythe is supposed to be Europa if it were moved down into Io's orbit. All of the friction generated between Jool and the other moons could cause a lot of heating in the planet. Laythe could have been an icy moon like Vall, but maybe the friction melted the ice which evaporated, and enough evaporated to form an atmosphere, which trapped the small amount of heat from the sun, causing more water vapor to form. I would guess that Laythe's atmosphere could be mostly composed of water vapor and some other strong greenhouse gases. Laythe's oceans could also be extremely salty to help keep it liquid at very low temperatures. It would probably be quite stormy, but that isn't modeled in the game yet.

[moronplays]

From what I understand it could be possible. Laythe is the closest moon to Jool. Same as Europa is the closest of the Galilean moons to Jupiter. Scientist think that their might be liquid water under its surface because of tidal forces. Just like the Moon makes tides on Earth, Jupiter pulls on Europa stretching and pulling on the rock, this then causes friction which heats up the core of the planet and then some. This could be the same thing happening to Laythe with Jool, tidal friction.

P.S I am not 100% sure on the information above and do not claim it to be right. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

[tntristan12]

Take your pick. There's volcanism, joolian radiation, greenhouse gasses, tidal compression, and the space kraken!

[7499275]

Take your pick. There's volcanism, joolian radiation, greenhouse gasses, tidal compression, and the space kraken!

Like being a kid in a candy store! Don't know what to pick!

[OtherDalfite]

I'm gonna go with the ammonia oceans that Nova implied in a post. That seems the most reasonable. Even if it was close enough to Jool to melt all the ice, it would eventually be ripped apart by it's gravity.

[Brotoro]

Tidal interactions between Jool and the other Joolian moons would cause a LOT of heating on Laythe. Because of the smaller distances in the Joolian system (compared to the Jovian system) these tidal effects would be more powerful than what we get for the Jovian moons.

Radiation belts around Jool (if they exist) would NOT casue heating. Although the particles trapped in a planet's radiation belts are very energetic, there are way too few of them to noticeably warm up a moon.

[babtras]

It is heated entirely by my CPU trying to render all the junk I have sent to Laythe

[7499275]

It is heated entirely by my CPU trying to render all the junk I have sent to Laythe

lol we all know that feeling to some extent

[Holo]

Laythe is 6 Celsius, so that compound is probably water (given the O2 atmosphere)

[Pulstar]

With tidal effects from Jool and Tylo+Vall water seems probable, would explain where the oxygen in the atmosphere came from. But it could be just one liquid forming up the oceans.

[Penguinhero]

dont forget laythe is the closest moon to jool like Io is to jupiter and Io is stretched and squeezed by the gravity so maybe that is why laythe has liquid. My theory is the liquid is being heated by friction

[rryy]

With tidal effects from Jool and Tylo+Vall water seems probable, would explain where the oxygen in the atmosphere came from. But it could be just one liquid forming up the oceans.

Maybe Laythe once held photosynthetic life, but some change caused them to all die out. The water could have also been somehow split into oxygen and hydrogen.

[tntristan12]

Maybe Laythe once held photosynthetic life, but some change caused them to all die out. The water could have also been somehow split into oxygen and hydrogen.

Or there is lots of algae and other microbial life forms releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

[skykooler]

NovaSilisko said that Laythe is supposed to be volcanic. Also, if it's water, it's quite probably salt water, which stays liquid at a significantly lower temperature than regular water. Probes that I've sent to Laythe show the temperature near the equator at around 0 degrees C, and salt water melts at around -21 degrees C. So, that combined with the ice caps, makes me believe that Laythe's oceans are indeed water.

[technicalfool]

It is heated entirely by my CPU trying to render all the junk I have sent to Laythe

Well, I have seen one friend refer to the game as "Kerbal Space Heater", for what it turns his PC into.