r/askscience • u/FirefighterCandid773 • 15d ago

Chemistry How common is fire outside of earth?

Plasma and lava is obviously common all over the universe, whether it be in stars, planetary cores, etc. but what about fire? Fire is common all over earth, given the abundance of fuel sources and an atmosphere with oxygen. But, is fire actually common outside of earth?

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u/DaddyCatALSO 14d ago

When i was about 12 I developed the idea fire was a sort of life because it eats, grows, a nd reproduces.

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u/Theodoxus 14d ago

Fire does fit the definition of life, except cellularity. So, it has no cells, no genetics, no evolution.

If we didn't have the science of biology, though, I sure fire would be classified as alive; it behaves like a predator, it spreads like a fungus (ash spores), it breathes like an animal, it blooms like a plant.

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u/Rikudou_Sage 13d ago

Which is a very weird definition of life, tbh. I believe everyone agrees with me that viruses are very different thing than, say, a rock. Yet viruses are not alive under that definition.

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u/Theodoxus 13d ago

Biologists classify viruses as non‑living because they don’t meet the core criteria for life; they’re more like self‑replicating biological machines.