Astronomers may be beginning to obtain products on the lava planets.
These burning worlds share a density similar to Earth, but an orbit so close to their host stars that their diurnal abrasing temperatures melt the same rocks from which they are made, creating possible magma oceans that cover their surface.
While Lava Mundos represent an exciting new border in Exoplanet Science, much is unknown about its dynamic, interior and evolutionary paths. “Laval planets are found in orbital configurations so extreme that our knowledge of rocky planets in the solar system does not apply directly, leaving uncertain scientists about what to expect when observing the lava planets,” said Charles -éard Boukaré of the University of York in Toront statement.
Since the lava planets have been identified as key objectives for observation with the NASA Plans.
Using a numerical model, the researchers predicted the long -term evolution of the lava planets for billions of years, from their formation to the point where they achieve a “thermal stationary state”. By combining ideas from the mechanics of geophysical fluids, exoplanetary atmospheres and mineralogy, the study reveals how the intense internal dynamics and changing compositions of these exotic worlds probably develop over time.
But the base of the model was based on the findings closer to home. “These processes, although very amplified on the lava planets, are fundamentally the same ones that shape the rocky planets in our own solar system,” Boukaré said.
Interestingly, although it is predicted that the lava planets will begin mainly molten just after they are formed, as well as the magma oceans on the young planets in our solar system, they solidify almost as fast as their counterparts of the solar system despite being heated on their star side. (The lava worlds are “blocked from tide” to their host stars, with a hemisphere always in the dark and the other always in the very bright light).
What makes the lava planets unique is that, unlike the rocky planets in our solar system, they maintain a shallow magma ocean on their side oriented to the sun for billions of years, even as their interiors slowly cool. Throughout the edges of this Magma Ocean, the crystals are formed continuously from the molten rock, which causes a constant separation of different chemical components between solid crystals and the remaining liquid magma, according to the new study.
This continuous process shapes and changes the planet over time, so the silicate atmosphere of an older lava planet reflects a chemically changed magma ocean, not the original makeup of the planet. This means that it is possible to say the age of a lava planet studying its atmosphere.
“Unlike the short period of low density period 55 Cancri E, the planets of good faith are expected to have lost all their volatile in space, but its 2,000 to 3,000 k[elvin; 1,727 to 2,727 degrees Celsius] The days support an atmosphere of vaporized silicate rocks, which can be observable with the James Webb space telescope (JWST), “the researchers wrote in their article, which was published in the Nature magazine on July 29.
In addition, young lava planets have relatively warm night temperatures of around 1,500 k (1,227 degrees c), caused by the heat of internal convection. As they age, without additional heat sources, their night cools significantly. The current thermal state of a planet reflects its entire thermochemical history, which makes the mantle temperature a key to understanding planetary evolution.
Measure the temperatures of the night is now possible with the JWST, providing information on the interior of a planet. Future telescopes such as the extremely large telescope, which is currently being built in Chile, can also analyze silicate atmospheres, which helps to reveal complex interactions between the atmosphere of a planet, the molten surface and the interior minerals.
What began as a “highly exploratory effort with few initial expectations” has become a new exciting border in the science of the exoplanet, providing clear guidelines to help astronomers identify and study this new class of planets.
These predictions have played a key role in the team that obtains 100 hours of valuable observation time in JWST.
“We really hope to observe and distinguish the old lava planets from the young lava planets. If we can do this, it would mark an important step to go beyond the traditional view of the exoplanets,” Boukaré concluded.
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