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wolttamyesterday at 4:53 PM1 replyview on HN

There is also an immense amount of water vapour being produced by the combustion of a hydrocarbon.


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countersyesterday at 6:03 PM

Sure, but water vapor doesn't spontaneously transition to a liquid and accrete onto surfaces - there needs to be a super-saturation of water vapor, and given the temperatures of jet exhaust, that's not trivial to achieve. However, the super-saturation needed for water vapor to deposit onto surfaces as ice is much lower, hence the preference for ice crystal nucleation.