Capillary Processes in Extraterrestrial Contexts

Abstract

AbstractThe Earth is no longer the only known celestial body containing one or more liquid phases. The Cassini spacecraft has discovered seas of hydrocarbons at the surface of Titan, while a series of corroborating evidences argue in favor of the existence of an aqueous ocean beneath the icy crust of several moons. Capillarity embraces a family of physical processes occurring at the free surface of a liquid. These phenomena depend on the liquid properties and on the local planetary conditions. Capillarity may have important direct or indirect implications on the geoscientific and astrobiological points of view. In this paper, we discuss capillarity physics among solar system objects and expected consequences for planetary science.