Let's assume for the moment that KSP planets are the same size as real planets...

[Whirligig Girl]

... what are they made of? More specifically, what gives them their color.

Moho: Carbon, Iron, Silicates

Eve: Iodine, Silicates, lead ocean.

Gilly: Silicates, tinyum

Kerbin: same as Earth

Mun: Silicates, may have Helium 3

Minmus: NaCl (Sodium Chloride, salt)

Duna: Same as Mars, but the Iron is apparently much more oxidized. Ice caps have CO2.

Dres: Same as Ceres, with Carbon making the dark colors, or perhaps hardened lava.

Jool: Potasium, Hydrogen, Helium, Water, other Hydrocarbons

Laythe: Water, Silicates, Silicon Dioxide, for instance.

Vall: Water Ice, silicates under the possible ocean below

Tylo: Same as Mun.

Bop: Same as Moho

Pol: A grain of space pollen from interstellar space, captured by Jool's gravity.

Eeloo: Water Ice in the form of rocks, silicates, and Nitrogen Ice.

Edited August 2, 2013 by GregroxMun

[Themohawkninja]

What's Tinyum, and space pollen?

[lammatt]

but....

the phase equilibrium of water sits at gaseous state when it's at very low temp very low pressure

so... eeloo wouldnt be icy i believe...

the water solid will just sublime to its gaseous state and escape

and actually... at 0atm vapor pressure the phase equilibrium is at gaseous state regardless of temperature.

in this sense... water ice in planets without an atmosphere is not very likely to happen

Edited August 2, 2013 by lammatt

[Themohawkninja]

but....

the phase equilibrium of water sits at gaseous state when it's at very low temp very low pressure

so... eeloo wouldnt be icy i believe...

the water solid will just sublime to its gaseous state

Europa is both cold, and has no atmosphere to generate pressure, and yet it has >60 miles thick of ice.

[lammatt]

Europa is both cold, and has no atmosphere to generate pressure, and yet it has >60 miles thick of ice.

wow... 60 miles...

i dont know... a 0.1micropascal oxygen atmosphere and a 50kelvin mean temperature hinders the sublimation maybe?

or perhaps the water solid is indeed very kinetically stable (while being thermodynamically unstable) just like how it takes millions of years to turn diamond into graphite in R.T.P.

which makes a lot of sense since there are so many hydrogen bondings in a water solid lattice

i have no idea...

but good that you point the fact out for me which i was totally uninformed...

Edited August 2, 2013 by lammatt

[Zeroignite]

Water/ice/vapor as a function of temperature and pressure:

OP, how do you get potassium for Jool? Why the lack of frozen carbon dioxide anywhere, esp. Duna's ice caps and Vall?

Also, Iodine would definitely purpleify Eve to the degree that it is, but I don't know if it's stable or abundant enough to remain that close to a star.

[Whirligig Girl]

Potassium is green. Forgot about Carbon Dioxide

Tinyum is a made up element, it's a joke because Gilly is tiny.

Space Pollen is also a joke.

[Redjoker]

but....

the phase equilibrium of water sits at gaseous state when it's at very low temp very low pressure

so... eeloo wouldnt be icy i believe...

the water solid will just sublime to its gaseous state and escape

and actually... at 0atm vapor pressure the phase equilibrium is at gaseous state regardless of temperature.

in this sense... water ice in planets without an atmosphere is not very likely to happen

yes and no. Watch this

Some of the water turns to gas due to the vacuum but, it has to get energy from some where to break the bonds keeping it a liquid so it takes kinetic energy away from the rest of the water causing the remaining water to solidify.

[NERVAfan]

Eve: Iodine, Silicates, lead ocean.

I don't think Eve's surface is hot enough for liquid lead.

Eeloo: Water Ice in the form of rocks, silicates, and Nitrogen Ice.

Is Eeloo THAT cold? It crosses the orbit of Jool, and Titan (orbiting Saturn) in real life has a nitrogen gas atmosphere. I don't think nitrogen would freeze on Eeloo.

[Zeroignite]

Potassium is green.

Hydrocarbons can explain it just as well... look at Uranus and Neptune.

And if Eve is indeed a Venus analogue, it's plenty hot for lead oceans. I rather like that hypothesis. (Current temp readings are a total placeholder.)

[lammatt]

yes and no. Watch this

Some of the water turns to gas due to the vacuum but, it has to get energy from some where to break the bonds keeping it a liquid so it takes kinetic energy away from the rest of the water causing the remaining water to solidify.

in some jargon terms...in chemistry..

we call it kinetically stable

ie. the activation energy is so high compare to enthopy change and hence the reaction cant self sustain even it is thermodynamically feasible

a prime example would be carbon(diamond) -> carbon (graphite) in R.T.P