Related papers: Planetesimal Compositions in Exoplanet Systems
Suggestions have been made that asteroid belts may be important both for the existence of life and perhaps even for the evolution of complex life on a planet. Using numerical models for protoplanetary discs we calculate the location of the…
The bulk chemical composition and interior structure of rocky exoplanets are of fundamental importance to understanding their long-term evolution and potential habitability. Observations of the chemical compositions of the solar system…
Aerosols are common in the atmospheres of exoplanets across a wide swath of temperatures, masses, and ages. These aerosols strongly impact observations of transmitted, reflected, and emitted light from exoplanets, obfuscating our…
We model the formation of silicate atmospheres on hot volatile-free super-Earths. Our calculations assume that all volatile elements such as H, C, N, S, and Cl have been lost from the planet. We find that the atmospheres are composed…
Around the snow line, icy pebbles and silicate dust may locally pile-up and form icy and rocky planetesimals via streaming instability and/or gravitational instability. We perform 1D diffusion-advection simulations that include the…
Atmospheric abundances are thought to constrain the planet formation pathway, because different species evaporate at different temperatures leaving distinct signatures in the accreted atmosphere. The planetary C/O ratio is thought to…
We present a comprehensive atmospheric retrieval study of the hot Jupiter WASP-77A\,b using eclipse observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and JWST. Using atmospheric retrievals, the spectral features of H$_2$O, CO, and TiO are…
A primary goal of exoplanet science is to measure the atmospheric composition of gas giants in order to infer their formation and migration histories. Common diagnostics for planet formation are the atmospheric metallicity ([M/H]) and the…
Simulations have shown that a diverse range of extrasolar terrestrial planet bulk compositions are likely to exist, based on the observed variations in host star elemental abundances. Based on recent studies, it is expected that a…
Much of a planet's composition could be determined right at the onset of formation. Laboratory experiments can constrain these early steps. This includes static tensile strength measurements or collisions carried out under Earth's gravity…
The newfound ability to detect SO2 in exoplanet atmospheres presents an opportunity to measure sulfur abundances and so directly test between competing modes of planet formation. In contrast to carbon and oxygen, whose dominant molecules…
The interest in the structure of ice-rich planetary bodies, in particular the differentiation between ice and rock, has grown due to the discovery of Kuiper belt objects and exoplanets. We thus carry out a parameter study for a range of…
Mass and radius of planets transiting their host stars are provided by radial velocity and photometric observations. Structural models of solid exoplanet interiors are then constructed by using equations of state for the radial density…
(Exo-)planets inherit their budget of chemical elements from a protoplanetary disk. The disk temperature determines the phase of each chemical species, which sets the composition of solids and gas available for planet formation. We…
Observations of exoplanet atmospheres have shown that aerosols, like in the Solar System, are common across a variety of temperatures and planet types. The formation and distribution of these aerosols are inextricably intertwined with the…
To date, there is no core accretion simulation that can successfully account for the formation of Uranus or Neptune within the observed 2-3 Myr lifetimes of protoplanetary disks. Since solid accretion rate is directly proportional to the…
In this chapter we summarize current knowledge of the internal structure of giant planets. We concentrate on the importance of heavy elements and their role in determining the planetary composition and internal structure, in planet…
We calculate the minimum mass of heavy elements required in the envelopes of Jupiter and Saturn to match the observed oversolar abundances of volatiles. Because the clathration efficiency remains unknown in the solar nebula, we have…
Planet formation is generally described in terms of a system containing the host star and a protoplanetary disc, of which the internal properties (e.g. mass and metallicity) determine the properties of the resulting planetary system.…
This chapter highlights the properties of turbulence and meso-scale flow structures in protoplanetary disks and their role in the planet formation process. Here we focus on the formation of planetesimals from a gravitational collapse of a…