{"id":25780,"date":"2022-09-28T15:06:55","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T14:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=25780"},"modified":"2022-09-28T15:06:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T14:06:55","slug":"exploring-the-formation-of-volcanic-exoplanets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/exploring-the-formation-of-volcanic-exoplanets\/25780\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the formation of volcanic exoplanets\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
An opportunity to explore exoplanets in greater detail has arisen with the launch of the <\/span>James Webb Space Telescope<\/span><\/a> (JWST) and early retrievals of data and images. Launched in 2021, JWST will act as the premier observatory for the next decade, providing astronomers with the tools for greater discovery. Researchers from <\/span>Cornell University<\/span><\/a> are furthering this endeavour, recently putting together a starter catalogue of volcanic exoplanet surfaces, serving as another way to identify the composition of exoplanets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Their research, \u2018Volcanic Exoplanet Surfaces,\u2019 was published in the forthcoming November 2022 edition of <\/span>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alongside the work of JSWT, the multidisciplinary group of researchers created 16 types of surface compositions as a starter catalogue for finding volcanic exoplanets that have oceans of magma. They have modelled and synthesised lava in the laboratory to emulate the types of rock that may form on far-away exoplanets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe new observations of lava worlds by JSWT are unlocking the secrets to what kind of places are on our cosmic shore,\u201d said co-author Lisa Kaltenegger, Carl Sagan Institute (CSI) Director and Associate Professor of Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences. \u201cOur catalogue of volcanic exoplanet surfaces provides a tool to decipher what composes these worlds.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur early catalogue becomes an important tool to understand the chemical composition of volcanic exoplanets that are not described best by solar system analogue,\u201d said lead author Esteban Gazel, the Charles N Mellowes Professor in Engineering in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS), in the College of Engineering. He is also a member of Cornell\u2019s interdisciplinary CSI.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Possible physical exoplanet surfaces were created by Marc-Antoine Fortin, a former associate in Gazel\u2019s and Kaltenegger\u2019s research groups. This was driven by previous models of what comprises planets around known host stars.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs Earth and planetary scientists, we are looking for clues to early planetary evolution,\u201d Fortin said. \u201cHere on Earth, we have some natural relics \u2013 very old rocks \u2013 that offer us an idea about our own planet billions of years ago.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese lava worlds are like a time machine, because Earth was once lava, too. But with exoplanets, at least for those planets filled with magma, we can see planets in different stages of their evolution.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nA tool to observe exoplanets<\/h3>\n
Unveiling exoplanet mysteries with lava worlds<\/h3>\n