rocky planet Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Astrobiology

Schematic contours of H, C, and N speciation determined by Raman spectroscopy in basaltic glasses synthesized in piston-cylinder experiments at 1–2 GPa and 1,400°C–1,600°C, shown as a function of fO2 (relative to the IW buffer) and H content (as equivalent H2O, wt. %). Raman and FTIR measurements are from Hirschmann (2012), Armstrong et al. (2015), Dalou et al. (2019, 2022), and Grewal et al. (2020). Blank areas represent conditions at which literature data are currently lacking. This figure demonstrates that H, C, and N on their own may be present as multiple species at a given fO2 or water content, and that they combine to form different molecules in natural and synthetic glasses. fO2 of Earth and Mars formation are indicated. Sulfur speciation is not shown because the effect of H on S speciation has not yet been determined at fO2 relevant to magma ocean conditions. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Distribution Of Volatile Elements During Rocky Planet Formation

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2023December 2, 2023

Core segregation and atmosphere formation are two of the major processes that redistribute the volatile elements-hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S)-in and around rocky planets during their […]

Mass-radius diagram showing confirmed planets with mass uncertainties < 20% in grey circles, with TOI-544 b shown as the black circle. Left: the coloured tracks show different potential planet compositions from Zeng et al. (2019), assuming a planetary equilibrium temperature of 1000 K. The dashed lines show compositions of an Earth-like rocky core surrounded by a layer of H-He in varying percentages by mass, the solid lines show water world compositions with varying water mass fractions, the dotted lines show rocky and Earth-like rocky compositions. TOI-544 b is closest to the tracks with 100% H2O and 50% H2O with 50% rock. Right: the same as the left panel but the the dashed lines show compositions of an Earth-like rocky core surrounded by a layer of H-He in varying percentages by mass from Lopez & Fortney (2014) using the models for a 10Gyr planet, with solar metalicity and flux of 10F⊕, the solid lines show compositions from Aguichine et al. (2021) of irradiated ocean worlds with varying water mass fractions, and the dotted lines show the same rocky and Earth-like rocky compositions from Zeng et al. (2019). TOI-544 b is closest to models with either 30% water mass fraction, or a rocky core with a Hydrogen envelope of between 0.5 - 1%. The data is downloaded from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

TOI-544 b: A Potential Water-world Inside The Radius Valley In A Two-planet System

by Keith CowingOctober 24, 2023October 24, 2023

We report on the precise radial velocity follow-up of TOI-544 (HD 290498), a bright K star (V=10.8), which hosts a small transiting planet recently discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey […]

Water cloud horizontal and vertical distributions. Water cloud column (a) in latitude vs longitude coordinates and (b) tidallylocked coordinates (b). Water cloud content vertical distribution (c) as a function of tidally-locked latitude (averaged over all tidallylocked longitudes). The plots were computed for an initially hot and steamy 2 R⊕ planet (with a 10 bar of H2O + 1 bar of N2 atmosphere) synchronously rotating (fixed rotation period of 60 Earth days) around a M3 star, and forced to an ISR of 500 W m−2 (simulation M3-YANG-1). The outputs were averaged over 250 Earth days. For reference, insolation is 340.5 W m−2 on present-day Earth. Wind fields are superimposed on the plots. Winds are plotted at a pressure of ∼ 50 Pa in panels a and b, and averaged over all tidally-locked (TL) longitudes in panel c. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Condensation Zones Around Main Sequence Stars

by Keith CowingAugust 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Understanding the set of conditions that allow rocky planets to have liquid water on their surface — in the form of lakes, seas or oceans — is a major scientific […]

Dynamical evolution of planets in one of the typical systems that underwent several late dynamical instabilities after the gas dispersal. The plots show the temporal evolution (20 Myr) of planetary bodies, specifically their semimajor axes, masses, eccentricities, and orbital inclinations. Each line color represents an individual object; however, the color is random in each plot. The dashed black line shows the estimated time of the gas dissipation at ∼ 8 Myr. For better visualization, the panels on the left (semimajor axes and masses) show the evolution of all bodies with masses > 0.1 M⊕, and the panels on the right (eccentricities and orbital inclinations) show only bodies with masses > 0.5 M⊕. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Forming Rocky Exoplanets Around K-dwarf Stars

by Keith CowingAugust 14, 2023August 14, 2023

How multiple close-in super-Earths form around stars with masses lower than that of the Sun is still an open issue.

Flowchart illustrating the three possible stages in our box model of M-Earth evolution. (a) Surface magma ocean (MO).

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

The Role of Magma Oceans in Maintaining Surface Water on Rocky Planets Orbiting M-Dwarfs

by Keith CowingAugust 3, 2023May 11, 2024

Earth-like planets orbiting M-dwarf stars, M-Earths, are currently the best targets to search for signatures of life. Life as we know it requires water. The habitability of M-Earths is jeopardized […]

Example of the progression of solid species of a simulation. The molar amount relative to the total molar content of the disk of each of the condensates included in the simulation is shown as a function of decreasing temperature in different line colours and styles, as denoted in the legend. See Appendix D for details on the included species. The simulation was run at a constant disk pressure of p = 10−4 bar and is based the solar elemental abundance pattern recommended by Lodders (2003). See Table B.2 for a summary of the simulation parameters. -- astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Revisiting Equilibrium Condensation And Rocky Planet Compositions: Introducing The ECCOplanets Code

by Keith CowingJuly 5, 2023July 5, 2023

We introduce ECCOplanets, an open-source Python code that simulates condensation in the protoplanetary disk.

Comparison between HST and AstroSat-measured SEDs of HIP 23309 in the FUV (1300-1700 A). Top plot shows data in linear y-scale with error bars; bottom plot is identical to top plot except with log y-scale and omission of error bars for easier viewing. The cyan and black data correspond to the unbinned HST and UVIT data, respectively. The blue points correspond to HST data degraded to the approximate quality of the AstroSat data, to enable a closer comparison. The green points correspond to the AstroSat data binned down by a factor of 5, to improve SNR and enable better visual comparison. We assumed Gaussian uncorrelated noise when rebinning the AstroSat data. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

UV Spectral Characterization of Low-Mass Stars With AstroSat UVIT for Exoplanet Applications: The Case Study of HIP 23309

by Keith CowingJune 29, 2023June 29, 2023

Characterizing rocky exoplanet atmospheres is a key goal of exoplanet science, but interpreting such observations will require understanding the stellar UV irradiation incident on the planet from its host star.

Artist impression showing the exoplanet LP 890-9c’s potential evolution from a hot Earth to a desiccated Venus. Carl Sagan Institute/R. Payne

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Exoplanet LP 890-9c May Reveal Secrets About The Edge Of Habitability

by Keith CowingJune 21, 2023June 21, 2023

How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery.

Climate

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Climate And Atmospheric Models Of Rocky Planets: Habitability And Observational Properties

by Keith CowingJanuary 24, 2023

The quest for atmospheric spectral signatures that may witness biological activity in exoplanets is focused on rocky planets.

protoplanetary disk

Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Do Rocky Planets Really Form?

by Keith CowingJanuary 12, 2023January 12, 2023

A new theory for how rocky planets form could explain the origin of so-called “super-Earths”—a class of exoplanets a few times more massive than the Earth that are the most […]