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The decline of Mars' global magnetic field some 3.8-4.1 billion years ago is thought to reflect the demise of the dynamo that operated in its liquid core. The dynamo was probably powered by planetary cooling and so its termination is…

Geophysics · Physics 2017-11-08 Christopher Davies , and Anne Pommier

Mercury's core mass fraction (CMF) is ~0.7, more than double that of the other rocky planets in the solar system, which have CMFs of ~0.3. The origin of Mercury's large, iron-rich core remains unknown. Adding to this mystery, an elusive…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-02-17 Haniyeh Tajer , Ji Wang , Anna C. Childs , Noah Ferich , Tiger Lu , Hanno Rein

Triton and Pluto are believed to share a common origin, both forming initially in the Kuiper Belt but Triton being later captured by Neptune. Both objects display similar sizes, densities, and atmospheric and surface ice composition, with…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-09-04 Tanguy Bertrand , François Forget , Emmanuel Lellouch

The composition of Jupiter and the primordial distribution of the heavy elements are determined by its formation history. As a result, in order to constrain the primordial internal structure of Jupiter the growth of the core and the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2017-03-08 Michael Lozovsky , Ravit Helled , Eric D. Rosenberg , Peter Bodenheimer

This study explores the gravitational interaction between Pluto and its moon Charon, which has led to their synchronous orbit, where they consistently show the same face to each other. This process is known as tidal evolution, which…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-03-05 Yun-Yan Lee

Sputnik Planitia, Pluto's gigantic ice glacier, hosts numerous scientific mysteries, including the presence of thousands of elongated pit structures. We examine various attributes of these pit structures in New Horizons data sets, revealing…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-11-17 S. Alan Stern , Brian Keeney , Rachael Hoover , Silvia Protopapa , Oliver White , Will Grundy , Dale P. Cruikshank , the New Horizons Team

Although Uranus and Neptune are commonly classified as ice giants, their exact compositions remain poorly constrained. Recent studies of outer Solar System bodies challenge the traditional view that these planets are primarily…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-05-08 Vanesa Ramirez , Yamila Miguel , Saburo Howard

The gravity field of a giant planet is typically our best window into its interior structure and composition. Through comparison of a model planet's calculated gravitational potential with the observed potential, inferences can be made…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-03-18 Naor Movshovitz , Jonathan J. Fortney , Chris Mankovich , Daniel Thorngren , Ravit Helled

There are still many open questions regarding the nature of Uranus and Neptune, the outermost planets in the Solar System. In this review we summarize the current-knowledge about Uranus and Neptune with a focus on their composition and…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-04-15 Ravit Helled , Nadine Nettelmann , Tristan Guillot

Pluto's surface is geologically complex because of volatile ices that are mobile on seasonal and longer time scales. Here we analyzed New Horizons LEISA spectral data to globally map the nitrogen ice, including nitrogen with methane diluted…

Metal-rich asteroids and iron meteorites are considered core remnants of differentiated planetesimals and or products of oxygen-depleted accretion. Investigating the origins of iron-rich planetesimals could provide key insights into planet…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-11-12 Terry-Ann Suer , Edgar S. Steenstra , Simone Marchi , John A. Tarduno , Ilaria Pascucci

Recent measurements made by Hipparcos (Provencal et al. 1998) present observational evidence supporting the existence of some white dwarf (WD) stars with iron - rich, core composition. In this connection, the present paper is aimed at…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 J. A. Panei , L. G. Althaus , O. G. Benvenuto

Rocky planets in our Solar System, namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Moon, which is generally added to this group due to its geological complexity, possess a solid surface and share a common structure divided into major layers,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-07-15 Ana-Catalina Plesa , Julia Maia , Solmaz Adeli , Tina Rückriemen-Bez

Pluto and its five known satellites form a complex dynamic system. Here we explore where additional satellites could exist exterior to Charon (the innermost moon) but interior of Hydra (the outermost). We also provide dynamical constraints…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-25 Simon B. Porter , S. Alan Stern

Pluto's icy surface has changed colour and its atmosphere has swelled since its last closest approach to the Sun in 1989. The thin atmosphere is produced by evaporating ices, and so can also change rapidly, and in particular carbon monoxide…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-27 J. S. Greaves , Ch. Helling , P. Friberg

The present study takes the CoRoT-7b exoplanet as an analogue for massive terrestrial planets to investigate conditions, under which intrinsic magnetic fields could be sustained in liquid cores. We examine the effect of depth-dependent…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-28 F. W. Wagner , F. Sohl , T. Rückriemen , H. Rauer

Mercury has an unusually large metal core comprising ~70% of its mass comparing to all other terrestrial planets in the solar system. Giant impacts can remove a significant fraction of the silicate mantle of a chondritic proto-Mercury and…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-01-08 Hongping Deng

Uranus and Neptune form a distinct class of planets in our solar system. Given this fact, and ubiquity of similar-mass planets in other planetary systems, it is essential to understand their interior structure and composition. However,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-08-04 Ravit Helled , Jonathan J. ~Fortney

The improved description of the planets' interior is provided. We examine the modified gravity effects on the Earth-like planets composed of the iron core and silicate mantle. We confirm that the mass-radius relations, as well as density…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2022-08-18 Aleksander Kozak , Aneta Wojnar

We used {\sl \textup{ab initio}} molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the high-pressure melting temperatures of the three potential core components. The planetary adiabats were obtained by solving the hydrostatic equations in a…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-10-30 S. Mazevet , R. Musella , F. Guyot