Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-02-05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
4 pages, 1 figure, updated to match accepted version
Scientific paper
Rogue planets have been ejected from their planetary system. We investigate the possibility that a rogue planet could maintain a liquid ocean under layers of thermally-insulating water ice and frozen atmosphere as a result of geothermal heat flux. We find that a rogue planet of Earth-like composition and age could maintain a subglacial liquid ocean if it were ~3.5 times more massive than Earth. If a rogue planet had about ten times higher water mass fraction or a thick cryo-atmospheric layer, it would need to be only ~0.3 times the mass of Earth to maintain a liquid ocean. Such a planet could be detected from reflected solar radiation and its thermal emission could be characterized in the far-IR if it passed within O(1000) AU of Earth.
Abbot Dorian S.
Switzer Eric R.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Steppenwolf: A proposal for a habitable planet in interstellar space does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Steppenwolf: A proposal for a habitable planet in interstellar space, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Steppenwolf: A proposal for a habitable planet in interstellar space will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-505844