Because they are 10 times more massive than Earth, it is possible that discovered super-Earths contain more atmospheric water than we do and could support life further away from their sun.
We are on the cusp of the next era of planetary discovery. Hundreds of massive Jupiter-like planets have been discovered so far, but now astronomers are beginning to discover smaller, more familiar planets. Earth-mass planets are still beyond the reach of current technology, but a new type of planet— Count the Earths are beginning to be discovered, and many of them are located with the combined help of ground and space telescopes. Perhaps the most interesting study will be the study of the atmospheres of these planets.
Super-Earths can reach up to 10 times the mass of Earth, but because they contain solid surfaces and can also make liquid water, they may be habitable. A presentation by Eliza Miller-Rickey of Harvard University at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society discussed the prediction of what a super-Earth's atmosphere would look like. Although the topic is interesting from a scientific point of view - the composition of the gases, the evidence for the existence of plate tectonics and the thickness or thinness of the atmosphere, the most interesting question will be whether planets of this type will be able to support life.
In order for life of the type we know to develop, the planets need to contain liquid water on their surface and a reasonable temperature range - that is, they need to be in the habitable zone of their parent star. As we see in our solar system, a planet's atmosphere helps regulate its temperature. Venus has a thick atmosphere and is hot enough to melt lead, while Earth has moderate temperatures, and water on the surface. Mars has a thin atmosphere and is quite cold. Not only the thickness of the atmosphere and its compressibility is important. It is also important that they contain carbon dioxide, water, etc.
Massive stars like Jupiter are mostly made of hydrogen. Smaller, lighter planets like Earth cannot hold the hydrogen and it escaped into space during the early history of the planet. However, it is possible that super-Earths still manage to retain some of the hydrogen. Instead of a hydrogen-poor atmosphere like on Earth, they may have an atmosphere containing very large amounts of water. Water is a powerful greenhouse gas - negligible amounts of water in the Earth's atmosphere are responsible for 60% of the greenhouse effect (output), so they keep the Earth warm and enable life.
Universe Today editor Fraser Cain asked Miller-Rickey about the effect of a large amount of hydrogen in the atmosphere on a super-Earth-type planet. As mentioned, water vapor is a greenhouse gas and helps shape the degree of heat of the planet. "The amount of hydrogen in the atmosphere on a super-Earth may affect the area of life (meaning that life may exist at a greater distance from the Sun than it could have formed on a small planet). That's an important question, and that's what we're waiting to find out."
Current spacecraft locate super-Earths using the transit method, in which the planet dims the light from the parent star as it passes in front of it. By subtracting the chemical signature when the planet passes behind the star, astronomers can determine the composition of its atmosphere.
Finding super-Earths is limited with current telescope technology. However, new devices are going to be launched soon. The space telescope Kepler Launched in April 2009, it will be able to discover many more super-Earths than those already found. However, the next generation of large space telescopes such as NASA's James Webb Telescope will allow astronomers to image the atmospheres of these planets directly.
For the news in Universe Today
More on the Science website from the 213th American Astronomical Society Conference, January 2008, Long Beach California:
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To Michael R. (formerly Michael)
You explained the gravity issue very well.
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Ori:
The answer to your questions is divided into two aspects:
The first aspect is that of the purpose of the study.
The purpose of the research proposed in the article is to identify life-supporting stars and not necessarily stars where humans can live.
The second aspect is the computational aspect.
On the (reasonable) assumption of a similar density between the Earth and the stars in question, the mass of the star increases in direct proportion to the third power of the radius while forgetting the attraction on its surface decreases in direct proportion to the square of the radius.
This means that in total the gravitational force on the surface of the star is directly proportional to its radius.
In order for the mass to be 10 times greater, it is enough for the radius to increase 2.15 times, and this means that the pull on the face of a star that has a mass of 10 earth masses is only 2.15 times greater than the pull on the earth.
It's still a strong pull but it's much smaller than you thought.
Hello, I would like to tell you that I wrote a fiction book for children and youth called "Draconiaria and the Space People" the book tells about a meeting between two stars. The planet "Althea" where giants and dwarves live is a planet with very, very high technology. Their way of life is different from ours because of a nuclear war that broke out on their planet before …. The star became dry....the rain stopped falling...everything dried up. Their bodies changed and they found the solution to life without water. The inhabitants of the planet connect through a personal mouth to bacteria-free energy and nutrition facilities... which feed them once a "month" (all knowledge is in the cosmos... we just need to reach an appropriate level of intelligence in order to be able to use the knowledge...)... maybe... there is life on other planets... without water…
I would be happy to send you the book. God. Hanita Halevi- Soferat
First of all, thanks for the link to the news.
I am waiting to take care of her until the end of the news collection from last week's conference, since she is already over a month old anyway.
wonder if i have
10 times greater mass of the star also means actually 10 times stronger gravity right? It certainly wouldn't allow us to have a normal human life on such a planet.
Abi, I sent you a link to the news about the detection of water on a planet outside our system..I can't understand from this letter either whether it is already known about the presence of water on another planet. (The theoretical possibility always exists it is clear, depending on the correct position in relation to the mother planet). The mere detection of the presence of water on another planet is important in itself.