Interior and Surface Physics of Hot, Evaporating Rocky Exoplanets
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered so far, and more are being identified at breakneck speed. A majority of these appear to be small (Earth to super-Earth sized), presumably rocky planets. However, we have very little information about the actual compositions of the latter planets; a property which is of fundamental interest in itself, and also has critical implications for the formation and evolution of these planets. Currently, the most promising way to investigate their compositions is to examine small planets orbiting very close to their parent stars: these planets are so hot that their surfaces are expected to be evaporating and escaping into space, and upcoming missions such as JWST can detect and analyse the escaping material. However, the connection between the composition of the escaping material and that of the planet itself is not trivial: it depends in a complicated fashion on the interior and surface physics and chemistry of the planets. The goal of this project is to investigate in detail this physics for a broad range of planetary masses and compositions, in order to make quantitative predictions about the properties of the surface material that evaporates and escapes. Comparison of these predictions with upcoming observations of such hot planets will then lend vital insights into the true planetary compositions. The work will draw on hydrodynamics, radiation physics, geophysics and geochemistry, married to theoretical calculations and numerical simulations.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Subhanjoy Mohanty (Primary Supervisor) | |
Alfred CURRY (Student) |
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ST/T506151/1 | 30/09/2019 | 29/09/2023 | |||
2439579 | Studentship | ST/T506151/1 | 30/09/2020 | 31/03/2024 | Alfred CURRY |
ST/V506734/1 | 30/09/2020 | 29/09/2024 | |||
2439579 | Studentship | ST/V506734/1 | 30/09/2020 | 31/03/2024 | Alfred CURRY |
Description | We have developed a numerical model of the interiors of rocky exoplanets. The model is potentially more widely applicable, but we are using it to model specific extremely hot evaporating planets. Our main finding so far has been that although they are very close to their stars these planets can cool sufficiently fast through their night-sides (the side of the planet not facing the star) that they solidify other than a small portion of the planet from where evaporation occurs. We have also considered how common these planets must be, given those that we know about, and find that they should be fairly common in the galaxy. |
Exploitation Route | It would be possible to use our code to model other types of planets. We are also planning to use it to model to investigate chemical evolution |
Sectors | Other |