Internal Structure and Evolution of Super-Earths

Details Internal Structure and Evolution of Super-Earths Internal Structure and Evolution of Super-Earths

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.6804v&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #68.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.858

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Despite the challenges of detecting small planets, five super-Earths (planets with mass in the 1-10 M⊕ range) were detected from the ground in the last two years. Only their minimum mass is known but it is enough to draw robust conclusions on their composition. With our internal structure model and information on the solar nebula composition we can infer the minimum and maximum radius for these planets, which in turn yields information on their bulk properties. Many more new super-Earths will be detected with Kepler in the next five years and radius measurements will be available. With a mass and radius measurement, this model can yield the degeneracy in the composition of a super-Earth, which is crucial when determining if the planet is rocky or ocean-like. This is the first step towards characterizing these objects and it is possible because the model considers all possible mixtures between the compositional end-members (H2O, silicates conforming the mantle and Fe conforming the core) of a small planet (i.e. non-jovian) and in this way is more complete than zero-temperature sphere models. We have identified the terrestrial threshold radius above which a planet is necessarily ocean-like for different planetary masses. Furthermore, combining the results from the internal structure model and parameterized convection analysis we arrive at the conclusion that super-Earths are very likely in a plate tectonic regime which makes them similar to Earth. This has implications on the evolution of these planets and their possibility of being habitable.

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