Today it reaches the number of confirmed exoplanets 5197 in 3888 planetary systemswith other 8,992 candidates awaiting confirmation.
Most are very large planets, starting with Jupiter and a gas giant the size of Neptune, which has a radius about 2.5 times the diameter of the Earth.
otherwise Statistically significant Their population is made up of rocky planets measuring approximately 1.4 Earth radii (also known as “superterrestrial planets”).
This is a mystery to astronomers, especially when he discovered the venerable exoplanet Kepler space telescope we are worried.
Of the more than 2,600 planets discovered by Kepler, there is a shortage of distinct exoplanets with a radius of approximately 1.8 times the diameter of the Earth, referred to as the “Valley of the Ray”.
The second puzzle, known as “Peas in a Pod”, refers to neighboring planets of similar size found in hundreds of planetary systems with harmonious orbits.
In a study conducted by Cycle of volatile elements essential for life on rocky planets (CLEVER) at Rice University, presenting an international team of astrophysicists new model This explains the interplay of forces acting on the newborn planet that could explain both of these puzzles.
The research was led by Andre Isidoro, Welch Postdoctoral Fellow at Rice with funding from NASA underground planet project. He joins the investigators of Culver Planets Rajdeep Dasgupta And Andrea IsellaAnd Helk Schleichting of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Christian Zimmermann and Bertram Beech of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA).
As they explain in their research paper, which recently appeared in Astrophysics diary letterThe team used a supercomputer to run a planetary migration model that simulated the first 50 million years of the planetary system’s development.
In their model, a protoplanetary disk made of gas and dust also interacts with a migrating planet, bringing it closer to its parent star and trapping it in a chain of resonant orbitals.
Within a few million years, the protoplanetary disk disappears, breaking the chain and causing orbital instability that causes two or more planets to collide. Although planetary migration models have been used to study planetary systems that have maintained orbital resonance, these results are a first for astronomers.
As Isidore of Rice University says, declaration: “I think we were the first to explain the valley radius using models of planetary formation and dynamic evolution that constantly explain the limitations of some observations.
“We were also able to show that planetary formation patterns that include giant impacts are consistent with the bean characteristics of exoplanets.”
This work builds on Izidoro’s previous work and the CLEVER Planets project. Last year, they used a migration model to calculate the maximum perturbation of the seven-planet system in TRAPPIST-1.
In an article published on November 21, 2021 in natural astronomy, used N-body simulations to show how a “nut in a capsule” system can maintain its symmetrical orbital structure despite collisions caused by planetary migrations. This allows them to place limits on the upper limits of the collision and on the mass of the objects involved.
Their results show that the collision in the TRAPPIST-1 system is proportional to the impact that led to the creation of the Earth-Moon system.
“The migration of small planets to their host stars creates overcrowding and often results in violent collisions that strip the planets of their hydrogen-rich atmospheres,” said Isidoro.
“This means that giant impacts, such as those that shaped our moon, could be a common result of planet formation.”
This latest research shows that planets are of two distinct types, consisting of dry, rocky planets larger than 50 percent of the Earth (super-Earths) and planets rich in ice water more than 2.5 times the size of Earth (small Neptune).
Furthermore, they suggest that a fraction of planets twice the size of Earth would retain their primordial atmosphere rich in hydrogen and be rich in water.
According to Isidore, the results are consistent with recent observations that super-Earths and minor Neptune are not just dry, rocky planets.
The findings represent an opportunity for exoplanet researchers, who will rely on the James Webb Space Telescope to make detailed observations of exoplanet systems.
Using state-of-the-art optical arrays, infrared imaging, spines and spectrometers, Webb and the next generation of telescopes will characterize exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces like never before.
This article was originally published by the universe today. Reading original article.
