Generating an Atmosphere

Abstract

The presence of water ice on most of the large satellites of the outer planets was established many years ago through near-infrared observations with ground-based telescopes. Frozen carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, methane, nitrogen, and other molecular ices are also found in various combinations on inner planets such as Mars to bodies far beyond Pluto. Recent discoveries of ice varieties on some asteroids and sequestered in protected regions on Mercury and the Moon point to the near-universal distribution of frozen volatiles throughout the solar system.