Extraterrestrial liquid water Extraterrestrial liquid water Extraterrestrial liquid water (from the Latin words: "extra" ["outside of, beyond"] and "terrestris" ["of or belonging to Earth"]) is water in its liquid state that naturally occurs outside Earth. It is a subject of wide interest because it is recognized as one of the key prerequisites for life as we know it and thus surmised as essential for extraterrestrial life. With oceanic water covering 71% of its surface, Earth is the only planet known to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface, and liquid water is essential to all known life forms on Earth. The
Planetary core Planetary core The planetary core consists of the innermost layer(s) of a planet; which may be composed of solid and liquid layers. Cores of specific planets may be entirely solid or entirely liquid. In the Solar System, core size can range from about 20% (Moon) to 85% of a planet's radius (Mercury). Gas giants also have cores, though the composition of these are still a matter of debate and range in possible composition from traditional stony/iron, to ice or to fluid metallic hydrogen. Gas giant cores are proportionally much smaller than those of terrestrial planets, though theirs can be considerably