Precipitation in the Solar
System
Gordon McIntosh, University of Minnesota–Morris, Morris, MN
A
s an astronomy instructor, I am always look-
ing for commonly observed Earthly experi-
ences to help my students and me under-
stand and appreciate similar occurrences elsewhere
in the solar system. Recently I wrote a short TPT
article on frost.1 This paper is on the related phe-
nomena of precipitation. Precipitation, so common
on most of the Earth’s surface as rain, snow, and
other forms of water, also occurs on other bodies in
the solar system. However, the precipitating chemical
on the other bodies is rarely water, may never reach
the solid surface of the body, and may even occur on
bodies that do not have a well-defined solid surface.
For reference, the Earth has a global average of
24.5 mm of precipitable water in the atmosphere.2
Precipitable water is the integrated total mass of water
per unit area in the atmosphere from the surface of
the Earth to the top of the atmosphere. The result of
this calculation gives the quantity of water in units of
kg m-2. However, since liquid water has a well-known
density, the precipitable water is usually expressed in
terms of the equivalent depth of the water.
The planet Venus was studied by the Mariner 10
spacecraft in 1974 and by Pioneer Venus in 1978.
These studies resulted in the discovery of a precipi-
table mass of dilute sulfuric acid with an equivalent
depth of 0.1 to 0.2 mm.3 Research suggests that
although the liquid drops would evaporate before
reaching the surface of the planet, precipitation is “not
unlikely” in the atmosphere of Venus.4 Other models
suggest that the largest particles could generate mist
and drizzle if they consist of liquid spheres.5 The
502 DOI: 10.1119/1.2798364 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 45, November 2007
Venus Express spacecraft is currently in orbit about Ve-
nus. One of the objectives of this mission is to study
the possible water and sulfuric acid cycles of Venus.6
There may also be a form of snow on Venus. Theo-
ries indicate that lead sulfide and/or bismuth sulfide
snow may form in the atmosphere of Venus.7 The
metals lead and bismuth are blasted into the atmo-
sphere through volcanic eruptions and interact chemi-
cally with sulfur compounds. At high elevations,
cooler than the lower surface of the planet, the sulfides
would condense out of the atmosphere and coat the
mountain tops. This hypothesis is supported by radar
studies that indicate high dielectric constant materials
such as PbS, Bi2S3 or other heavy metal compounds
at higher elevations on the planet. The material could
fall as snow or be deposited as frost.1
The surface and atmosphere of Mars have been
studied extensively by the Mars Global Surveyor for
the past 10 years. This spacecraft has discovered that
the south pole of Mars accumulates approximately 1.5
to 2.0 m of CO2 snow, and the polar cap expands by
approximately a factor of 10 over the Martian winter.8
Due to topographical differences, the north polar
region only accumulates 1.0 m of CO2 snow during
its winter, and the area of the north polar cap only in-
creases slightly. As with Earth’s snow cover, Mars’ CO2
coverage expands and contracts with its seasons. Up
to a third of the atmospheric CO2 may be involved in
the annual exchange of gases and solids at the Martian
polar caps. It seems likely that a CO2 “snow” con-
denses out of the atmosphere into crystals that fall to
the surface of the planet.
 Fig. 3. Water geyser above the surface
of Enceladus. A black and white and a
color enhanced image, also on this month‘s
cover. (Courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science
Fig. 2. A drainage system on the Institute.)
surface of Titan thought to carry
methane to the pool in the lower
part of the image. (Courtesy NASA/
JPL/ESA/University of Arizona.)

Fig. 1. A lava field on Io. The older

surface (upper right) is thought
to be streaked with SO2 snow.
(Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.)
The CO2 snow crystals would not be the beautiful
six-pointed dendritic snow crystals that fall to Earth as
water snow. The CO2 crystals would be octahedrons9
or a cubeoctahedron.10 It is likely that various condi-
tions under which the CO2 snow forms will affect the
crystal structure, just as Earthly snow can have a vari-
ety of structures depending on the physical conditions
during formation.
A direct buildup of CO2 frost on the surface is also
probable.1 The frost and snow then sublimates during
the subsequent spring and summer, and the cycle is
repeated during the Martian year.
Water rain may have played a part in the surface
history of Mars. Large-scale features shown in intro-
ductory astronomy texts 11 are usually used to support
the hypothesis of flowing water on the surface. Recent
observations indicate that water may still flow on the
surface,12 but no current water precipitation has been
suggested. Present results indicate only 20 microns of
precipitable water in the Martian atmosphere.13
The sulfur volcanoes of Io, a satellite of Jupiter,
blast large quantities of the material into the space
around the body. The sulfur reacts with other chemi-
cals including oxygen to form SO2. This compound
condenses to a crystalline structure in the atmosphere
of the body and then falls to the surface of Io. This
sulfur compound and others form the well-known
colorful surface of this world (see Fig. 1). The SO2
“falls to the ground as frozen particles or crystals, like
snowflakes.”14
The gas giant planet Saturn is hypothesized to have
a region in its atmosphere where helium condenses
from the gas to the liquid state and falls to a lower
level of the planet. This condensation occurs at certain
pressures and temperatures at which the helium is
immiscible in the liquid metallic hydrogen that domi-
nates the planetary material in these regions. This
phase separation leads to droplets of helium that drop
as rain through the liquid metallic hydrogen until
they reach a warmer region where they again dissolve
in the hydrogen. The effect would be to reduce the
helium in the upper region, enrich the helium in the
lower region, and convert gravitational potential en-
ergy to thermal energy. This energy conversion warms
the planet and may play an important role in the ther-
mal development of extra-solar giant planets as well as
Saturn. The heat generated in this process is thought
to be partially responsible for the fact that Saturn radi-
ates away more energy than it receives from the Sun.
Thermal studies of Saturn indicate that this helium
rain may have been forming and falling for three bil-
lion years!15 The conditions on Jupiter, although simi-
lar, are not thought to reach the necessary temperature
and pressure for the helium-liquid metallic hydrogen
phase separation to occur.
Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, has recently
been observed in great detail by the Cassini and Huy-
gens spacecrafts. One of the discoveries when the Huy-

The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 45, November 2007 503

Table I. Materials that are suggested or observed to precipi-
tate on various solar system bodies.
Solar System Precipitation References
Body
Venus H2SO4, PbS, Bi2S3 3, 4, 5, 7
Mars CO2, (H2O in past) 8
Io SO2 14
Saturn He 15
Titan CH4 16
Enceladus H 2O 18
Triton N2 20,21
Pluto N2 22
gens spacecraft descended to the surface of Titan was
the existence of a drainage network (Fig. 2).16 This
network is thought to carry methane precipitation to
large pools or seas. Methane is a small constituent of
the mainly nitrogen atmosphere. As a result of this
precipitation, hydrocarbon lakes are thought to exist
on the surface of Titan.17 If these lakes are shown to
exist, Titan will be only the second body in the solar
system after Earth to possess such surface bodies of
liquids.
Images of Enceladus, another satellite of Saturn,
show a spray of liquid or fine icy particles that ema-
nate from vents at the surface of the body (Fig. 3).
These vents are observed in the south polar region of
the body, distinguished by its “tiger stripe” appear-
ance.18 The icy particles fall back to the surface. This
fresh snow cover may explain the bright regions be-
tween the darker stripes. The energy source for these
hydrothermal geysers is not yet known. Tidal heating
or radioactive decays may provide the energy neces-
sary to liquefy and pressurize the subsurface water.19
Triton, the largest satellite of Neptune, also has
geyser-like plumes that expel gas and liquids into
the atmosphere of the body.20 It is thought that dark
subsurface particles containing carbon compounds
absorb sunlight, raising the temperature and vapor-
izing the surrounding nitrogen. The high pressure gas
then vents through cracks in the surface and carries
the dark particles aloft. The return of this material to
the surface may account for the dark streaks of mate-
rial observed on the surface of this body. A seasonal
“snowfall” of N2 ice may also occur on Triton.21
It is even speculated that the nitrogen in Pluto’s
504 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 45, November 2007
thin atmosphere may go through a cycle of conden-
sation and sublimation.22 This cycle of nitrogen
between the atmosphere and surface of the body oc-
curs because of Pluto’s large obliquity, or tilt of the
rotation axis. The large obliquity causes a temperature
difference between the poles. The sunlit pole is warm
enough (50-60 K) for nitrogen to sublime, and the
dark pole is cold enough (25-40 K) for nitrogen to
condense out of the atmosphere as snow or onto the
surface as frost. Other trans-Neptunian objects such as
Xena and Sedna may have nitrogen atmospheres that
experience a similar cycle of condensation and subli-
mation.23
The precipitation described above and listed in
Table I has a number of effects on the physical proper-
ties of these solar system bodies. Snow of various types
increases the albedo of the body, which will affect the
surface temperature. The seasonal temperature varia-
tions of Mars are buffered by latent heat of condensa-
tion and sublimation of CO2. The present tempera-
ture of Saturn has been increased by the condensation
and precipitation of helium in the planet. And the
physical surface of a body is altered by precipitating
materials collecting and flowing on the surface. Exam-
ples are the gullies carved on Titan by flowing methane
and on Mars by flowing water.
Acknowledgment
Thanks to a very knowledgeable reviewer for a num-
ber of useful comments.
References
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The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 45, November 2007 505
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PACS code: 95.00.00
Gordon McIntosh is a professor of physics at the
University of Minnesota, Morris. He enjoys teaching a
variety of physics and astronomy courses and carrying out
research in radio astronomy.
Division of Science and Mathematics, University
of Minnesota, Morris, Morris, MN 56267;
mcintogc@morris.umn.edu