lava world Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Astrobiology

Schematic of the modeling framework used in this study. Chemical equilibrium between the core, mantle and atmosphere is calculated using the model from H. E. Schlichting & E. D. Young (2022). Upper atmospheric temperature profiles are calculated using HELIOS (M. Malik et al. 2017). Fastchem cond (J. W. Stock et al. 2022) is used to find equilibrium chemical abundances throughout the upper atmosphere, accounting for rainout condensation. After iterating between HELIOS and Fastchem cond until convergence is reached, we account for photochemical processes and vertical mixing using Photochem (N. F. Wogan et al. 2023, 2025). -- astro-ph.EP

Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Magma Ocean Interactions Can Explain JWST Observations Of The sub-Neptune TOI-270 d

by Keith CowingOctober 21, 2025October 21, 2025

Sub-Neptunes with substantial atmospheres may possess magma oceans in contact with the overlying gas, with chemical interactions between the atmosphere and magma playing an important role in shaping atmospheric composition.

Lava-covered proto-Earth - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Geologists Discover The First Evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old “proto-Earth”

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2025October 15, 2025

Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of “proto Earth,” which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet’s composition […]

This artist’s concept depicts the planet GJ 1214 b, a “mini-Neptune” with what is likely a steamy, hazy atmosphere. A new study based on observations by NASA’s Webb telescope provides insight into this type of planet, the most common in the galaxy. NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Not All Sub-Neptune Exoplanets Have Magma Oceans

by Keith CowingSeptember 29, 2025September 29, 2025

The evolution and structure of sub-Neptunes may be strongly influenced by interactions between the outer gaseous envelope of the planet and a surface magma ocean.

An artistic reconstruction of Earth during the Hadean eon (~4.5 billion years ago). Intense volcanic activity, heat from accretion, and frequent impacts kept the young Earth in a molten state. This fiery landscape set the stage for the earliest formation of the crust and the eventual emergence of stable continents. Credit ©Science China Press

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Uncovering The Rock Record Of Earth’s Earliest Continental Crust

by Keith CowingJuly 14, 2025July 14, 2025

This study was led by Professor Jia Liu and Professor Qunke Xia from the School of Earth Sciences at Zhejiang University; researchers have taken a major step toward uncovering Earth’s […]

Best fit results from a joint transit and RV fit using a quasi-periodic GP model to account for the excess RV scatter in the RVs. a) Top: NEID (yellow) and HPF (green) RVs as a function of time. The best-fit Keplerian model is shown in red (appears as a solid band due to the short period orbit). The median of the GP component is shown in blue. The joint best-fit model is shown in grey. Bottom: Residuals from the best fit model. b) Top: Phase-folded RVs on the period of TOI-2431 b. Best fit Keplerian model after subtracting the GP model is shown in red. Bottom: RV residuals as a function of phase. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

An Earth-Sized Planet In A 5.4h Orbit Around A Nearby K Dwarf

by Keith CowingJuly 14, 2025July 14, 2025

We present the discovery and confirmation of the ultra-short period (USP) planet TOI-2431 b orbiting a nearby (d∼36 pc) late K star (Teff = 4109±28K) using observations from the Transiting […]

Overlook crater” near the summit of Kilauea Volcano -- USGS

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

AGNI: A Radiative-convective Model For Lava Planet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJune 6, 2025June 6, 2025

It is important that we are able to accurately model the atmospheres of (exo)planets. This is because atmospheres play a central role in setting a planet’s thermochemical environment at a […]

Numerical simulations of lava planets interior dynamics with no rotation. The dimensionless temperature scale is the maximum super-adiabatic temperature contrast: temperature is 1 at the base of the magma ocean, 0 at the surface on the night-side and 1 at the surface on the day-side. Panel (a) shows equatorial cross-sections from a turbulent model in spherical geometry with no phase change: the upper half is a snapshot and the lower half is a time average over 12 turbulent turnover times with superposed streamlines. Panel (b) shows temperature and panel (c) melt fraction from the 2D Cartesian model that accounts for solid–liquid phase change. See also Supplementary Video 1. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

The Role Of Interior Dynamics and Differentiation on the Surface and Atmosphere of Lava Planets

by Keith CowingMay 30, 2025May 28, 2025

Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their day-side is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava […]

This schematic depicts the set-up of the volatile exchange during initialization (t=0) and run time. For initialization, a surface temperature of 4000 K and a completely molten magma ocean is assumed, where the dissolved volatiles are in balance with the outgassed volatile content, set by the volatile melt fraction Fi . As the magma ocean solidifies, part of the volatile budget is deposited in the solid mantle. Further, atmospheric escape can remove H2O. These two sink terms thus reduce the amount of a volatile available in the fully coupled magma ocean-atmosphere system Mmoa i . The full overview of all included processes, including radiogenic heating, is shown in Barth et al. (2021, Fig. 1) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

From CO2- to H2O-dominated Atmospheres And Back — How Mixed Outgassing Changes The Volatile Distribution In Magma Oceans Around M Dwarf Stars [TRAPPIST-1]

by Keith CowingMay 24, 2025May 24, 2025

We investigate the impact of CO2 on TRAPPIST-1 e, f and g during the magma ocean stage. These potentially habitable rocky planets are currently the most accessible for astronomical observations.

Illustration of the two different degassing scenarios used in this work, which bracket the potential pathways of mantle melting and crystallization of planetary evolution. The range of orange colours corresponds to temperatures as defined on the bottom abscissa. The figures contain T-P profiles that are shown in black, with a surface temperature as defined by their lowermost endpoint; the corresponding black-body radiation curves are presented by striped lines in shades of orange and their radiance intensity and wavelength range are defined on the upper abscissa and right ordinate (in orange text). The black arrows denote the interaction between the atmosphere and the planetary mantle when determining the equilibrium composition of the atmosphere, as described in the Methods section. (A) The quenched scenario is representative of a case where the primordial magma ocean equilibrates last with the atmosphere above the liquidus, i.e., when the entire mantle is molten. In this case, the chemical systems of the mantle and atmosphere are assumed to be ’closed’ and no further in- or outgassing is taking place at lower surface temperatures. (B) The open scenario represents the opposite end-member assumption: (partially) molten mantle and atmosphere are allowed to equilibrate at all surface temperatures, i.e., in- and outgassing is taking place over the whole temperature range, and the mantle is assumed to be an open system towards the atmosphere. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release

Absence Of A Runaway Greenhouse Limit On Lava Planets

by Keith CowingMay 20, 2025May 20, 2025

Climate transitions on exoplanets offer valuable insights into the atmospheric processes governing planetary habitability.

Sub-Neptune With A Magma Ocean -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report

Atmospheric C/O Ratios Of Sub-Neptunes With Magma Oceans: Homemade Rather Than Inherited

by Keith CowingApril 30, 2025

Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope has enabled detailed spectroscopic characterization of sub-Neptune atmospheres.