A writer friend of mine asked if she could barrage me with astrophysics questions for a story she was writing. Of course, I said “fire away!” I will always help out a fellow writer! Her first question was “What is the Snow line?” (Which is also known as the Frost Line). The answer is pretty interesting, so I thought I would share it with you guys!
But before that, just in case you are unaware, I will cover a related topic: The Habitable Zone. From here, the Frost Line will make more sense.
Every star in our known universe has an area a specific distance from the star where water can exist as liquid, solid and a gas. This varies from star to star as it depends on the star itself: the size of the star, how hot the star is and which stage of life the star is currently in. This area is known as the “Habitable” zone, or the “Goldilocks Zone”, named because the planet is not too far away from the star, and not too close, but the perfect distance away for the only known prerequisite for life as we know it: Liquid water. Earth, very obviously, is in this zone, and no other planet is. Sort of.
