Related papers: Compositional layering in Io driven by magmatic se…
Aims. We investigate possible driving mechanisms of volcanic activity on rocky super-Earths with masses exceeding 3-4 Mearth. Due to high gravity and pressures in the mantles of these planets, melting in deep mantle layers can be…
Although still poorly understood, the chemistry that occurs on the surfaces of interstellar dust particles profoundly affects the growth of molecules in the interstellar medium. An important set of surface reactions produces icy mantles of…
The atmosphere of a hot jupiter may be subject to a thermo-resistive instability, in which the increasing electrical conductivity with temperature leads to runaway Ohmic heating. We introduce a simplified model of the local dynamics in the…
The improvements of the knowledge of the seismic structure of the inner core and the complexities thereby revealed ask for a dynamical origin. Sub-solidus convection was one of the early suggestions to explain the seismic anisotropy, but it…
Metals observed in the atmospheres of white dwarfs suggest that many have recently accreted planetary bodies. In some cases, the compositions observed suggest the accretion of material dominantly from the core (or the mantle) of a…
Since the Voyager mission flybys in 1979, we have known the moon Io to be both volcanically active and the main source of plasma in the vast magnetosphere of Jupiter. Material lost from Io forms neutral clouds, the Io plasma torus and…
Differential settling and growth of dust grains impact the structure of the radiative envelopes of gaseous planets during formation. Sufficiently rapid dust growth can result in envelopes with substantially reduced opacities for radiation…
Observations of time-resolved thermal emission from tidally locked exoplanets can tell us about their atmospheric temperature structure. Telescopes such as JWST and ARIEL will improve the quality and availability of these measurements. This…
The formation of the Earth's core is a consequence of planetary accretion and processes in the Earth's interior. The mechanical process of planetary differentiation is likely to occur in large, if not global, magma oceans created by the…
The metallicity structure of the Milky Way disk stems from the chemodynamical evolutionary history of the Galaxy. We use the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to observe ~8-10 GHz hydrogen radio…
The accretion of a terrestrial body and differentiation of its silicate/oxide mantle from iron core provide abundant energy for heating its interior to temperatures much higher than the present day Earth. The consequences of differentiation…
Magma ocean crystallisation sets up the early structure and long-term evolution of terrestrial planets. Recent seismic evidence signals the presence of a silicate layer at the base of Mars' mantle. Magma-ocean crystallisation and subsequent…
The Galilean moons exhibit a decrease in bulk density with distance from Jupiter, which may reflect differences in evolutionary paths and water loss. Early in its history, Jupiter was more luminous and may have driven substantial…
Magnetic reconnection and associated heating of ions and electrons in strongly magnetised, weakly collisional plasmas are studied by means of gyrokinetic simulations. It is shown that an appreciable amount of the released magnetic energy is…
Observations from Spitzer and ground-based infrared spectroscopy reveal significant diversity in the molecular emission from the inner few AU of T Tauri disks. We explore theoretically the possible origin of this diversity by expanding on…
The composition of Io's tenuous atmosphere is poorly constrained. Only the major species SO2 and a handful of minor species have been positively identified, but a variety of other molecular species should be present, based on thermochemical…
Earth's tectonic processes regulate the formation of continental crust, control its unique deep water and carbon cycles, and are vital to its surface habitability. A major driver of steady-state plate tectonics on Earth is the sinking of…
Hot jupiter atmospheres may be subject to a thermo-resistive instability where an increase in the electrical conductivity due to ohmic heating results in runaway of the atmospheric temperature. We introduce a simplified one-dimensional…
It remains an elusive goal to simultaneously model the astrophysics of Solar System accretion while reproducing the mantle chemistry of more than one inner terrestrial planet. Here, we used a multistage core-mantle differentiation model…
Particle-in-cell direct simulation Monte Carlo simulations reveal that ion-acoustic instabilities excited in presheaths can cause significant ion heating. Ion-acoustic instabilities are excited by the ion flow toward a sheath when the…