Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I also don't see how they disprove the contribution of gravity. Remember that Earth is composed of fifty Titan-sized bodies.

Titan, and probably Uranus and Neptune, probably have their methane etc. as a result of outgassing - initially, the volatiles are embedded in the inner rocks, but as they gravitationally differentiate and heat - and are subject to tide-like interactions with other bodies - the volatiles are released.

(The real questions are "Why does Ganymede not have an atmosphere?" and "What's up with Venus, really?")



I believe the idea is that the water was all cooked out of Earth's protoplanetary disk material before it even formed large chunks. So gravity never got a chance to "contribute" on that front.


Well, that seems to make 2 major assumptions (and several minor ones), both of which are probably false:

* that the planetesimals that formed Earth had the same orbital characteristics (notably eccentricity), rather than being averaged out.

* that planetesimals formed from dust in largely the same manner as planets form from planetesimals


...no, I don't think it makes either of those assumptions.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: