Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Re: Water dump aimed down at the earth.

Yes, ice crystals can exist/survive in space,
Marcia — (archived)

Ice crystals, suspended in space could have been common in the early solar system, but I doudt that they can still be around in the abundance that you are implying them to be.

As for your sublimation theory, this is the most logical explanation and combination of the word sublimation and comet in the same context:

[As a comet nears the Sun, its ice begins to sublimate -- that is, to pass directly from a solid to a gas form. The gas carries with it some of the loosely bound dust particles. The gas then spreads out around the nucleus, forming a large, thin atmosphere called the coma. Sunlight causes the atoms in the coma to glow, creating a pearly, spherical patch of light up to 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometres) in diameter. If the supply of gases from the nucleus changes, a comet can brighten or fade unexpectedly, which is why astronomers cannot predict how bright a comet will become.]

From: http://tweens.indiatimes.com/twt_pg/tweencyclopedia/universe/deepimpact.htm

Marcia

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