DOCSLIB.ORG

Jupiter – Key Facts Largest and Most Massive Planet in the Solar System: ~ 11 Earth Radii and 318 Earth Masses

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jupiter – Key Facts Largest and Most Massive Planet in the Solar System: ~ 11 Earth Radii and 318 Earth Masses Jupiter – key facts Largest and most massive planet in the Solar System: ~ 11 Earth radii and 318 Earth masses Composed primarily of H and He, but enriched in heavy elements compared to the Sun. Bulk composiFon: 71% H; 24% He; 5% heavier elements Rotates in just less than 10 hrs. Emits twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun – thermal energy generated by slow gravitaonal contracFon is radiated into space Internal heat and rapid rotaon combine to generate a turbulent atmospheric flow that stretches into eastward and westward directed winds called jets (c.f. the jet stream on Earth) Zones and belts represent different alFtudes in atmosphere (IR image on right) Jupiter – key facts Largest and most massive planet in the Solar System: ~ 11 Earth radii and 318 Earth masses Composed primarily of H and He, but enriched in heavy elements compared to the Sun. Bulk composiFon: 71% H; 24% He; 5% heavier elements Rotates in just less than 10 hrs. Emits twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun – thermal energy generated by slow gravitaonal contracFon is radiated into space Internal heat and rapid rotaon combine to generate a turbulent atmospheric flow that stretches into eastward and westward directed winds called jets (c.f. the jet stream on Earth) Zones and belts represent different alFtudes in atmosphere. Jupiter’s internal structure appears to consist of a rock+ice core lying at its centre with mass ~ 10 Earth masses. Central temperatures are ~ 20,000 K On top of this lies a mantle composed mainly of “metallic hydrogen” – a state of hydrogen that exists under extremely high pressures (> 106 atmospheres) in which it behaves as a liquid and the electrons are stripped off atoms making it electrically conducFng On top of this lies an layer of molecular hydrogen (+ helium and molecules such as ammonia). The rapid rotaon of Jupiter combined with the electrically conducFng metallic hydrogen give rise to a powerful magneFc field – 20 Fmes stronger at the surface of Jupiter than the Earth’s field is at the surface of the Earth. Jupiter has a reFnue of 67 confirmed moons: the 4 galilean satellites and a collecFon of much smaller objects (called irregular satellites) many of which appear to be captured asteroids/comets in inclined, eccentric and oden retrograde orbits Io – the closest of the galilean satellites. Volcanically acFve due to internal heang caused by Fdal flexing by Jupiter’s gravitaonal field because of Io’s eccentric orbit. Mean density suggests it is largely made of rock. Europa – in a 2:1 orbital resonance with Io caused by Jupiter’s Fdes expanding the orbits of the galilean satellites. Mean density suggests Europa composed largely of rocky material. Images and spectroscopy indicate a smooth surface made of water ice. Lack of craters suggests regular resurfacing by a liquid ocean lying ~100 km below the ice crust. Further evidence for subsurface ocean is provided by Europa’s magneFc field which requires the presence of an electrically conducFng fluid. Ganymede – the largest and most massive satellite in the solar system. In a 2:1 resonance with Europa. Mean density suggests this satellite is largely icy, but with an iron and rocky core. Surface shows different ages suggesFng that a semi-liquid mantle may exist under the icy crust Callisto – the most distantly orbiFng of the galilean satellites. Mean density suggests that Callisto is largely icy. Its highly cratered surface indicates that it is an ancient surface, not subject to renewal by erupFons from an interior mantle. The galilean satellites are believed to have formed in a disc of gas and rocks that surrounded the young Jupiter, just like the planets formed around the Sun. Saturn – key facts The second largest and most massive planet in the solar system: approximately 100 Earth masses or ~1/3 of Jupiter’s mass Similar bulk composiFon to Jupiter, but significant deficiency of He in atmosphere - suggesFng that He is “raining out” of the atmosphere. This also leads to Saturn radiang more heat than it receives from the Sun. The spin period is ~ 10 hrs. Rapid rotaon combined with internal heat generates turbulence and jets. Bands and zones are present but less disFnct than on Jupiter because of hazes high in Saturn’s atmosphere. Hosts an impressive ring system and a large collecFon of satellites (62 confirmed in total): 1 large moon, 6 moderate sized moons, and a large collecFon of small irregular satellites. Titan is only moon in solar system with significant atmosphere. Saturn – key facts The second largest and most massive planet in the solar system: approximately 100 Earth masses or ~1/3 of Jupiter’s mass Similar bulk composiFon to Jupiter, but significant deficiency of He in atmosphere - suggesFng that He is “raining out” of the atmosphere. This also leads to Saturn radiang more heat than it receives from the Sun. The spin period is ~ 10 hrs. Rapid rotaon combined with internal heat generates turbulence and jets. Bands and zones are present but less disFnct than on Jupiter because of hazes high in Saturn’s atmosphere. Hosts an impressive ring system and a large collecFon of satellites (62 confirmed in total): 1 large moon, 6 moderate sized moons, and a large collecFon of small irregular satellites. Titan is only moon in solar system with significant atmosphere. Saturn’s interior is similar to that of Jupiter: a rock+ice core surrounded by a mantle of electrically conducFng liquid metallic hydrogen, on top of which sits an envelope of molecular hydrogen. The existence of a metallic hydrogen layer combined with the rapid rotaon leads to generaon of a magneFc field whose strength at Saturn’s surface is about 3% of Jupiter’s. Saturn’s rings are composed of small icy parFcles ranging in size from 1 cm to 5 m, with the most abundant being ~ 10 cm. A small telescope from Earth allows the more massive A and B rings to be observed, along with the Cassini division. Observaon of the lower density D, C, F, G and E rings require either larger telescopes or in situ space cra such as Voyager or Cassini. Saturn’s rings are highly structured due to the gravitaonal influence of embedded moons and more distantly orbiFng satellites. The Cassini division is a gap between the B and A rings that coincides with a 2:1 orbital resonance with the satellite Mimas. The gap is created because material located there has a conjuncFon with Mimas every two orbits, leading to regular gravitaonal perturbaons that remove parFcles from locaons in the vicinity of the 2:1 resonance. The Keeler gap is formed and maintained by a small embedded satellite Daphnis. Wave-like features are observed at the edges of the gap induced by the gravitaonal perturbaons due to Daphnis. These perturbaons create and maintain the gap through a process of angular momentum and energy exchange between the parFcles in the ring and the satellite. ParFcles orbiFng interior to Daphnis orbit faster and are tugged back by the satellite’s gravity as they overtake it. They lose angular momentum and move onto orbits slightly closer to Saturn. The opposite happens to parFcles that orbit outside Daphnis, and they move onto orbits slightly further from Saturn, creang the gap. Collisions between ring parFcles have the effect of trying to close the gap, so a balance is maintained between satellite perturbaons on the ring material and collisional spreading of the ring parFcles. A pair of satellites can also act to shepherd and maintain a narrow ring. Saturn’s F-ring is shepherded by a pair of satellites that orbit interior (Prometheus) and exterior (Pandora) to the ring. Saturn has 6 medium sized regular satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus) and one large satellite (Titan – the 2nd largest satellite in the solar system). All of these regular satellites are located outside of the so-called Roche zone where the Fdal forces of Saturn would disrupt a body held together by its own gravity. The rings lie inside of the Roche zone. Enceladus is an icy moon with clearly defined linear surface features that appear to be the source of cryo- volcanic acFvity. Geysers of ice parFcles and water vapour are acFve in the regions covered by blue stripes. The ice parFcles act as the source of the E-ring. The presence of these geysers indicates a heat source – most likely Fdal damping by Saturn of Enceladus’ orbital eccentricity that is maintained by its gravitaonal interacFon with Dione with which it shares a 2:1 resonance, similar to the Jovian satellites. Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere. The atmosphere extends ~ 200 km from Titan’s surface, and is composed primarily of nitrogen with a mixture of organic compounds such as methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). The image to the right is a composite of visible and IR images taken by the Cassini spacecra. Temperatures near Titan’s surface (~95 K) allow methane and ethane to exist in vapour, liquid or solid phases. Exploraon of Titan by the Huygens probe in 2005 demonstrated the existence of river channels caused by liquid ethane and methane on the surface which falls as rain from the atmosphere. The surface was imaged by the probe showing the landing site to be strewn with ice boulders. Uranus – key facts Uranus is the inner-most of the ice-giant planets and has a featureless surface. The most unusual fact about Uranus is that its rotaon axis is Flted by ~98o relave to its orbital angular momentum vector – this is assumed to arise because Uranus experienced a giant impact with a smaller planetary body shortly aer formaon.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jupiter Mass
    CESAR Science Case Jupiter Mass Calculating a planet’s mass from the motion of its moons Student’s Guide Mass of Jupiter 2 CESAR Science Case Table of Contents The Mass of Jupiter ........................................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido. Kepler’s Three Laws ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Activity 1: Properties of the Galilean Moons ................................................................................................. 6 Activity 2: Calculate the period of your favourite moon ................................................................................. 9 Activity 3: Calculate the orbital radius of your favourite moon .................................................................... 12 Activity 4: Calculate the Mass of Jupiter ..................................................................................................... 15 Additional Activity: Predict a Transit ............................................................................................................ 16 To know more… .......................................................................................................................... 19 Links ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Mass of Jupiter 3 CESAR Science Case Background Kepler’s Three Laws The three Kepler’s Laws, published between
    [Show full text]
  • PHYS133 – Lab 4 the Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter
    PHYS133 – Lab 4 The Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter Goals: Use a simulated remotely controlled telescope to observe Jupiter and the position of its four largest moons. Plot their positions relative to the planet vs. time and fit a curve to them to determine their orbit characteristics (i.e., period and semi‐major axis). Employ Newton’s form of Kepler’s third law to determine the mass of Jupiter. What You Turn In: Graphs of your orbital data for each moon. Calculations of the mass of Jupiter for each moon’s orbit. Calculate the time required to go to Mars from Earth using the lowest possible energy. Background Reading: Background reading for this lab can be found in your text book (specifically, Chapters 3 and 4 and especially section 4.4) and the notes for the course. Equipment provided by the lab: Computer with Internet Connection • Project CLEA program “The Revolutions of the Moons of Jupiter” Equipment provided by the student: Pen Calculator Background: Astronomers cannot directly measure many of the things they study, such as the masses and distances of the planets and their moons. Nevertheless, we can deduce some properties of celestial bodies from their motions despite the fact that we cannot directly measure them. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus hypothesized that the planets revolve in circular orbits around the sun. Tycho Brahe (1546‐1601) carefully observed the locations of the planets and 777 stars over a period of 20 years using a sextant and compass. These observations were used by Johannes Kepler, to deduce three empirical mathematical laws governing the orbit of one object around another.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1209.5996V1 [Astro-Ph.EP] 26 Sep 2012 1.1
    , 1{28 Is the Solar System stable ? Jacques Laskar ASD, IMCCE-CNRS UMR8028, Observatoire de Paris, UPMC, 77 avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France [email protected] R´esum´e. Since the formulation of the problem by Newton, and during three centuries, astrono- mers and mathematicians have sought to demonstrate the stability of the Solar System. Thanks to the numerical experiments of the last two decades, we know now that the motion of the pla- nets in the Solar System is chaotic, which prohibits any accurate prediction of their trajectories beyond a few tens of millions of years. The recent simulations even show that planetary colli- sions or ejections are possible on a period of less than 5 billion years, before the end of the life of the Sun. 1. Historical introduction 1 Despite the fundamental results of Henri Poincar´eabout the non-integrability of the three-body problem in the late 19th century, the discovery of the non-regularity of the Solar System's motion is very recent. It indeed required the possibility of calculating the trajectories of the planets with a realistic model of the Solar System over very long periods of time, corresponding to the age of the Solar System. This was only made possible in the past few years. Until then, and this for three centuries, the efforts of astronomers and mathematicians were devoted to demonstrate the stability of the Solar System. arXiv:1209.5996v1 [astro-ph.EP] 26 Sep 2012 1.1. Solar System stability The problem of the Solar System stability dates back to Newton's statement concerning the law of gravitation.
    [Show full text]
  • Prelab 4: Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter
    Name: Section: Date: Prelab 4: Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter Many of the parameters astronomers study cannot be directly measured; rather, they are inferred from properties or other observations of the bodies themselves. The mass of a celestial object is one such parameter|after all, how would one weigh something suspended in mid-air? In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus hypothesized that the planets revolve in circular orbits around the sun. His contemporary Tycho Brahe, famous for his observations, carefully charted the locations of the planets and hundreds of stars over a period of twenty years, using a sextant and a compass. These observations were eventually used by Johannes Kepler, a student of Brahe's, to deduce three empirical mathematical laws governing the orbit of one object around another. Kepler's Third Law is the one that applies to this lab. In the early 17th century, with the recent invention of the telescope, Galileo was able to extend astronomical observations beyond what was available to the naked eye. He discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter and made exhaustive studies of this system. Galileo's work is of particular interest, not only for its pioneering observations, but because Jupiter and the four Galilean moons (as they came to be called) can be viewed as a miniature version of the larger Solar System in which they lie. Furthermore, Jupiter provided clear evidence that Copernicus's heliocentric model of the Solar System was physically possible; it is largely from these scientists' work that the modern study of Astronomy was born. The purpose of this lab is to determine the mass of Jupiter by observing the motion of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jovian System: a Scale Model Middle Grades
    The Jovian System: A Scale Model Middle grades Lesson Summary Teaching Time: One 45-minute period This exercise will give students an idea of the size and scale of the Jovian system, and also illustrate Materials the Galileo spacecraft's arrival day trajectory. To share with the whole class: • Materials for scale-model moons (optional, may Prior Knowledge & Skills include play-dough or cardboard) Characteristics of the Jupiter system • • Rope marked with distance units • Discovery of Jupiter’s Galilean satellites • Copy of arrival day geometry figure • The Galileo probe mission AAAS Science Benchmarks Advanced Planning Preparation Time: 30 minutes The Physical Setting 1. Decide whether to use inanimate objects or The Universe students to represent the moons Common Themes 2. If using objects, gather materials Scale 3. Mark off units on rope 4. Review lesson plan NSES Science Standards • Earth and space science: Earth in the Solar System • Science and technology: Understandings about science and technology NCTM Mathematics Standards • Number and Operations: Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates Source: Project Galileo, NASA/JPL The Jovian System: A Scale Model Objectives: This exercise will give students an idea of the size and scale of the Jovian system, and also illustrate the Galileo spacecraft's arrival day trajectory. 1) Set the Stage Before starting your students on this activity, give them at least some background on Jupiter and the Galileo mission: • Jupiter's mass is more than twice that of all the other planets, moons, comets, asteroids and dust in the solar system combined. • Jupiter is looked on as a "mini solar system" because it resembles the solar system in miniature-for example, it has many moons (resembling the Sun's array of planets), and it has a huge magnetosphere, or volume of space where Jupiter's magnetic field pushes away that of the Sun.
    [Show full text]
  • Migration of Jupiter-Mass Planets in Low-Viscosity Discs E
    Migration of Jupiter-mass planets in low-viscosity discs E. Lega, R. P. Nelson, A. Morbidelli, W. Kley, W. Béthune, A. Crida, D. Kloster, H. Méheut, T. Rometsch, A. Ziampras To cite this version: E. Lega, R. P. Nelson, A. Morbidelli, W. Kley, W. Béthune, et al.. Migration of Jupiter-mass plan- ets in low-viscosity discs. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, EDP Sciences, 2021, 646, pp.A166. 10.1051/0004-6361/202039520. hal-03154032 HAL Id: hal-03154032 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03154032 Submitted on 26 Feb 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. A&A 646, A166 (2021) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039520 & © E. Lega et al. 2021 Astrophysics Migration of Jupiter-mass planets in low-viscosity discs E. Lega1, R. P. Nelson2, A. Morbidelli1, W. Kley3, W. Béthune3, A. Crida1, D. Kloster1, H. Méheut1, T. Rometsch3, and A. Ziampras3 1 Laboratoire Lagrange, UMR7293, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Boulevard de l’Observatoire, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France e-mail: [email protected] 2 Astronomy Unit, School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK 3 Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany Received 24 September 2020 / Accepted 21 December 2020 ABSTRACT Context.
    [Show full text]
  • Structure of Exoplanets
    Structure of exoplanets David S. Spiegela,1, Jonathan J. Fortneyb, and Christophe Sotinc aSchool of Natural Sciences, Astrophysics Department, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540; bDepartment of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064; and cJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 Edited by Adam S. Burrows, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and accepted by the Editorial Board December 4, 2013 (received for review July 24, 2013) The hundreds of exoplanets that have been discovered in the entire radius of the planet in which opacities are high enough past two decades offer a new perspective on planetary structure. that heat must be transported via convection; this region is Instead of being the archetypal examples of planets, those of our presumably well-mixed in chemical composition and specific solar system are merely possible outcomes of planetary system entropy. Some gas giants have heavy-element cores at their centers, formation and evolution, and conceivably not even especially although it is not known whether all such planets have cores. common outcomes (although this remains an open question). Gas-giant planets of roughly Jupiter’s mass occupy a special Here, we review the diverse range of interior structures that are region of the mass/radius plane. At low masses, liquid or rocky both known and speculated to exist in exoplanetary systems—from planetary objects have roughly constant density and suffer mostly degenerate objects that are more than 10× as massive as little compression from the overlying material. In such cases, 1=3 Jupiter, to intermediate-mass Neptune-like objects with large cores Rp ∝ Mp , where Rp and Mp are the planet’s radius mass.
    [Show full text]
  • Rotational Dynamics of Europa 119
    Bills et al.: Rotational Dynamics of Europa 119 Rotational Dynamics of Europa Bruce G. Bills NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Scripps Institution of Oceanography Francis Nimmo University of California, Santa Cruz Özgür Karatekin, Tim Van Hoolst, and Nicolas Rambaux Royal Observatory of Belgium Benjamin Levrard Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides and Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon Jacques Laskar Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides The rotational state of Europa is only rather poorly constrained at present. It is known to rotate about an axis that is nearly perpendicular to the orbit plane, at a rate that is nearly constant and approximates the mean orbital rate. Small departures from a constant rotation rate and os- cillations of the rotation axis both lead to stresses that may influence the location and orienta- tion of surface tectonic features. However, at present geological evidence for either of these processes is disputed. We describe a variety of issues that future geodetic observations will likely resolve, including variations in the rate and direction of rotation, on a wide range of timescales. Since the external perturbations causing these changes are generally well known, observations of the amplitude and phase of the responses will provide important information about the internal structure of Europa. We focus on three aspects of the rotational dynamics: obliquity, forced librations, and possible small departures from a synchronous rotation rate. Europa’s obliquity should be nonzero, while the rotation rate is likely to be synchronous unless lateral shell thickness variations occur. The tectonic consequences of a nonzero obliquity and true polar wander have yet to be thoroughly investigated.
    [Show full text]
  • Lab 05: Determining the Mass of Jupiter
    PHYS 1401: Descriptive Astronomy Summer 2016 don’t need to print it, but you should spend a little time getting Lab 05: Determining the familiar. Mass of Jupiter 2. Open the program: We will be using the CLEA exercise “The Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter,” and there is a clickable Introduction shortcut on the desktop to open the exercise. Remember that you are free to use the computers in LSC 174 at any time. We have already explored how Kepler was able to use the extensive 3. Know your moon: Each student will be responsible for observations of Tycho Brahe to plot the orbit of Mars and to making observations of one of Jupiter’s four major satellites. demonstrate its eccentricity. Tycho, having no telescope, You will be assigned to observe one of the following: Io, was unable to observe the moons of Jupiter. So, Kepler was Europa, Ganymede, or Callisto. When you have completed not able to actually perform an analysis of the motion of your set of observations, you must share your results with the Jupiter’s largest moons, and use his own (third) empirical class. There will be several sets of observations for each of the law to deduce Jupiter’s mass. As we learned previously, observed moons. We will combine the data to calculate an Kepler’s Third law states: average value. 2 3 p = a , 4. Log in: When you are asked to log in, use your name and the where p is the orbital period in Earth years, and a is the computer number on the tag on the top of the computer.
    [Show full text]
  • What Are Jupiter and Its Moons Like?
    EXPLORATION 3: VOYAGE TO EUROPA! What are Jupiter and its moons like? The purpose of this exploration is to observe the motions of Jupiter's GRADE LEVEL: moons, and to use these observations to determine various physical 9-12 properties of the planet Jupiter and its moons. TIME OF YEAR: January through June • The force of gravity extends beyond a planet's surface far out 2004-2006 into space, where it holds moons and artificial satellites in SCIENCE STANDARDS: orbit. Laws of motion Law of gravity • The time it takes a moon to orbit once around a planet Orbits depends on the mass of the planet and also on the distance MATERIALS NEEDED: between planet and moon. 4Online telescopes (or use archived images.) 4 Software, provided • Relationships among physical properties are important, 4 Printer (optional) because they can be used to determine one property if the related properties are known. TIME NEEDED: 2- 4 class periods TEXTBOOK LINK: The motivation for this exploration is the recent discovery that one of Jupiter's moons, named Europa, is likely to have a warm, deep, salt-water ocean hidden under its icy surface. This prospect—and the possibility of life under the ice on Europa—makes Jupiter and its moons one of the most exciting destinations in the solar system to explore. The focus of this exploration is on what we can learn about Jupiter and its moons by observing the motions of the moons and applying our knowledge of Newton's laws of gravity and motion. Students' are challenged to use their own observations of Jupiter and its moons (supplemented with images of the moon Europa's surface, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft), to prepare a report on what a mission to Jupiter and Europa might be like.
    [Show full text]
  • Geophysical Classification of Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Moons: a Mass Scale and Composition Codes David G
    - 1 - Geophysical Classification of Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Moons: A Mass Scale and Composition Codes David G. Russell Owego Free Academy, Owego, NY USA [email protected] [email protected] Abstract A planetary mass scale and system of composition codes are presented for describing the geophysical characteristics of exoplanets and Solar System planets, dwarf planets, and spherical moons. The composition classes characterize the rock, ice, and gas properties of planetary bodies. The planetary mass scale includes five mass classes with upper and lower mass limits derived from recent studies of the exoplanet mass-radius and mass-density relationships, and the physical characteristics of planets, dwarf planets, and spherical moons in the Solar System. The combined mass and composition codes provide a geophysical classification that allows for comparison of the global mass and composition characteristics of exoplanets with the Solar System’s planets, dwarf planets and spherical moons. The system is flexible and can be combined with additional codes characterizing other physical, dynamical, or biological characteristics of planets. Subject Headings: planets and satellites: composition - planets and satellites: fundamental parameters - planets and satellites: general 1. Introduction To date nearly 3000 exoplanets have been confirmed (Han et al. 2014). It is possible to derive reasonable models for the interior structure of most Solar System planets and many exoplanets (Baraffe et al. 2008, 2010, 2014; Fortney et al. 2006, Sotin et al. 2010). Numerous names are used to characterize exoplanets including: Earth, super-Earth, mini-Neptune, Neptune, sub-Neptune, hot Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, hot Jupiter, Jovian, gas giant, ice giant, rocky, terrestrial, water, and ocean.
    [Show full text]
  • Hot-Jupiters and Hot-Neptunes: a Common Origin? The
    A&A 436, L47–L51 (2005) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:200500123 & c ESO 2005 Astrophysics Editor Hot-Jupiters and hot-Neptunes: A common origin? the 1,2 1 3 1 1 4 to I. Baraffe , G. Chabrier ,T.S.Barman ,F.Selsis , F. Allard , and P. H. Hauschildt 1 CRAL (UMR 5574 CNRS), École Normale Supérieure, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France e-mail: [ibaraffe;chabrier;fselsis;fallard]@ens-lyon.fr 2 International Space Science Institute, Hallerstr. 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland Letter 3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA e-mail: [email protected] 4 Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Received 11 March 2005 / Accepted 9 May 2005 Abstract. We compare evolutionary models for close-in exoplanets coupling irradiation and evaporation due respectively to the thermal and high energy flux of the parent star with observations of recently discovered new transiting planets. The models provide an overall good agreement with observations, although at the very limit of the quoted error bars of OGLE-TR-10, depending on its age. Using the same general theory, we show that the three recently detected hot-Neptune planets (GJ436, ρ Cancri, µ Ara) may originate from more massive gas giants which have undergone significant evaporation. We thus suggest that hot-Neptunes and hot-Jupiters may share the same origin and evolution history. Our scenario provides testable predictions in terms of the mass-radius relationships of these hot-Neptunes. Key words. planetary systems – stars: individual: GJ436, ρ Cancri, µ Ara 1.
    [Show full text]