Astronomers have discovered a truly tortured planet. It will make you grateful for the Earth.
In a distant solar system about 66 light-years away, researchers used NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to detect a volcano-covered world new to science. It is covered in volcanoes because the other two planets in this system have forced it into an unusual elliptical orbit, which pulls and compresses the world, shaking its interior.
The situation in deep space is similar to what’s happening on Jupiter’s moon Io, an orb that is relentlessly locked in a tug of war between nearby Jovian moons. This dynamic compresses and stretches Io, fueling the lava that comes out of the volcanoes.
“This is a terrestrial planet that I would describe as Io on steroids,” said Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at UC Riverside. said in a statement. “He was forced into a situation where volcanoes are constantly exploding. At optical wavelengths, you would be able to see a bright, incandescent planet with a surface of molten lava.”
NASA found a super-Earth. It’s in a tempting place.
Even our most powerful telescopes cannot capture a detailed view of a world many light years away (a light year is almost 6 trillion miles), but NASA’s TESS instrument is designed to detect small changes in light and can see when a planet passes in front of its star — resulting in a temporary dimming. This leads to the discovery of worlds beyond our solar system, called exoplanets.
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“It’s been forced into a situation where volcanoes are constantly exploding.”
In new research on the volcanic world, recently published in The Astronomical JournalKane and team show how two larger outer planets in this solar system (dubbed “HD 104067”) exert strong gravitational influence on the inner planet, forcing it into an eccentric orbit that ultimately crushes the tortured world, generating heat and intense geology. activity.
The surface is 2,600 degrees Kelvin, or about 4,220 degrees Fahrenheit, many times hotter than a pizza oven. (The surface of the Sun is above 10,000 degrees F.)
Artist’s conception of a rocky planet covered in molten lava, orbiting close to its star.
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Dani Player (STScI)
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So far, astronomers have confirmed more than 5,600 exoplanets, most of which are inhospitable worlds. Some even rain metal. About 200 are rocky worlds like Earth or Mars. Planetary scientists are especially interested in finding rocky planets that orbit in their solar system’s respective “habitable zone,” a temperate region where liquid water could exist.
There’s still no evidence that life exists beyond Earth, but Earth-like worlds are a smart place to look.
