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Gravity shapes flames into teardrops on Earth, while in space flames take on a round shape due to the expansion of heated gas in all directions. Fireballs in space are dimmer than Earth’s flames, with NASA studying them in the SOFBALL experiment. Smoke detectors on spacecraft are placed in ventilation systems.
Gravity influences the shape of a flame by anchoring cooler air at the base of the flame, while heated gas rises to the top, resulting in a teardrop shape. This effect is known as buoyancy or buoyancy of less dense materials in liquids and gases. In space, flames have the shape of round spheres and are commonly referred to by scientists as fireballs. This shape occurs because the heated gas from the flame expands in all directions in the weightlessness of microgravity instead of rising straight up.
Learn more about gravity and flames:
A fireball in space is much dimmer than a standard flame on Earth. For example, a fireball typically produces 1 to 2 watts of heat output. The flame of a birthday candle on Earth is about 50-100 watts.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began looking into fireballs in 1997 in a study known as the Lewis Low Number Fireball Structure (SOFBALL) experiment, in which astronauts purposely lit flames in sealed chambers aboard space shuttles for their behavior.
Smoke detectors are usually placed on ceilings because the heat from fires rises up. On spacecraft, smoke detectors are typically placed within all ventilation systems.
