Download Extra-Solar Planets

IMAGE OF THE DAY
EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETS
Exoplanet - A large body orbiting a
star other than the Sun.
•Review of planet formation
•The Habitable Zone
•Basic properties of discovered exoplanets
•Hot Jupiters
•Super-Earths
HOW TO MAKE A PLANET
Large, cool cloud of gas and dust
Gas makes the star, dust is necessary for planet formation
Dust is usually made of metals (Fe, Ni, Al), rocks (silicates) and ices (solid H2O, CH4,
NH3)
Mostly H and He (these two elements make up about 98% of our Solar System)
Cloud begins to collapse under its own self-gravity
HOW TO MAKE A PLANET
Collapse causes
Increase in temperature (conservation of energy)
Increase in rate of rotation (conservation of angular momentum)
Result is a rapidly rotating disk of gas and dust
Again, dust means rocks, metals and ices
at sufficient distance from the parent star, hydrogen compounds (H2O, CH4 NH3) are
important in formation of giants (Jovian planets are far from the Sun)
HOW TO MAKE A PLANET
Accretion
Dust grains collide to form larger particles -->
Collide small particles to form still larger particles -->
Collide large “boulders” to form planetesimals (asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects)-->
collide planetesimals to form planets
HOW TO MAKE A PLANET
Nebular Hypothesis
a) Solar Nebula
b) Contraction into rotating disk w/ hot center
c) Dust grains accrete to form larger and larger particles
d) Large particles sweep out more material to form planetesimals
e) Planetesimals eventually collide to form planets
THE HABITABLE ZONE
Typically these conditions for the existence of life
include:
1. Suitable temperature for liquid water
2. Existence of water itself
3. Appropriate cosmo-chemical composition
Are there other conditions or different ones? Are these necessary
and sufficient conditions for life?
THE HABITABLE ZONE
Depends on:
Distance to parent star
Type of parent star
ATMOSPHERE
Albedo: measure of the reflectivity of the earth's surface
Greenhouse effect
OVERVIEW OF EXOPLANETS
Planet (IAU definitions of Planet, Dwarf Planet and Small Solar System Bodies)
(1)A "planet” is a celestial body that:
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and
(c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
(1)A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that:
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,
(c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.
(1)All other objects except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
PLANET DETECTION METHODS
Radial Velocity – doppler shift in spectral lines of parent star
As the star approaches (recedes) the light from the star is
blue-(red-)shifted. The frequency and velocity can determine the mass of the
orbiting body, in this case a cool, dim planet.
HOT JUPITERS
-Large planets, orbiting close to parent star (too close to be in the Habitable
Zone)
- Large masses and short orbital periods
-Most have nearly circular orbits
-Many have unusually low densities
-Likely to have extreme and exotic atmospheres due to their short periods,
relatively long days, and tidal locking
SUPER EARTHS
Terrestrial (“rocky”) planet
More massive than Earth, less massive than Jupiter
Not necessarily “habitable”, as the name might suggest
Host stars are metal-poor
Some super-Earths have been found in the habitable zone around main
sequence stars