If it weren’t for the Earth’s atmosphere, we wouldn’t be here. It shelters us from deadly cosmic rays and regulates our climate, which is exactly what most Earth-sized planetary candidates outside of our solar system seemed to need.
However, recent research from the University of Chicago and Stanford University shows that many planets in the universe not only develop a atmosphere full of water valves, but keep them for long periods of time, according to a recent study published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
This broadens our understanding of how planets shape, and could help guide scientists in the ongoing search for Earth-like planets outside our solar system. .
Exoplanet air may be affected by water valve for ‘long time’
“Our model states that these hot, rocky exoplanets should feel waterlogged at some point, and for some planets, it may take a long time,” the professor said. Edwin Kite of the University of Chicago (UChicago), who is also an expert on the evolution of planetary sensations, in a UChicago blog post.
Space-based and terrestrial telescopes continue to catalog exoplanets, and scientists are trying to figure out what they look like. Telescopes can usually show us the physical size of an exoplanet, the distance between it and the host star, and – sometimes – the total mass of the planet.
To reach the next stage of exoplanet study, scientists must decipher data collected from Earth and other planets within our solar system. But surprisingly, the most abundant planets in the universe are not like the nearby ones we see with the naked eye.
“What we already knew from Kepler’s mission is that slightly smaller planets than Neptune are very abundant, which was surprising because there are none in our solar system,” Kite said in the blog post. “We don’t know for sure where they’re made of, but there’s strong evidence that they’re magma balls coated in a hydrogen atmosphere.”
Liquid magma swallows most of the water on sub-Neptune exoplanets
Many smaller rocky planets inhabit the universe, but without the oppressive coat of hydrogen’s thick atmosphere – which is why scientists suspect that many planets start as the largest with hydrogen cloaks – but then lose their original aromas as the host star comes alive. and blasting away the hydrogen.
However, these models are virtually infinite. The buzzard and co – author Laura Schaefer of Stanford studied possible situations where a planet is crushed in oceans of molten lava.
“Molten magma is very funny,” said Kite – which means it can recycle layers very much like oceans on Earth. In addition, these magma oceans appear to remove hydrogen from the atmosphere – creating a chemical reaction that creates water, some of which evaporates into the atmosphere, but more of it is absorbed. swallow with the hot magma.
Later, after the hydrogen atmosphere host star removes the exoplanet, the water is extracted and becomes a water valve in the atmosphere. On a long enough timeline, such planets get a feeling full of water.
And, on some planets, this level could last for billions of years, according to Kite.
A bright dark side on exoplanets may indicate a feeling
To test this idea, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was able to study the concentration measurements of exoplanet atmospheres, looking for the presence of water. But another method involves looking for indirect signs of atmosphere. Because most of these planets are rapidly locked (like the moon to Earth), their surface temperatures are very polar – with the star front being warmer than the “dark” side.
This may sound gloomy, but two UChicago alumni – Laura Kreidberg and Daniel Koll, at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and MIT, respectively – suggested that the feeling of exoplanet temperature could be modeled, dissipating much of the heat. light side around. By learning how strongly the dark side of an exoplanet shines, we may find a feeling of actively redistributing heat.
The search for Earth-like planets outside our solar system is accelerating. And, with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope later this year, we may soon find out with a catalog of planetary environments swarming with water.