Related papers: Thermal Evolution of Lava Planets
Astronomers have discovered a handful of exoplanets with rocky bulk compositions but orbiting so close to their host star that the surface of the planet must be at least partially molten. It is expected that the dayside of such "lava…
Lava worlds are rocky planets with dayside skins made molten by stellar irradiation. Tidal heating on these shortest-period planets is more than skin deep. We show how orbital eccentricities of just a few percent (within current observed…
Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their day-side is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava planets are tidally locked into synchronous rotation, with…
Lava planets likely did not form in their current orbits, instead migrating inward via orbital decay, which influenced the evolution of their magma oceans. We introduce a coupled thermal-orbital evolution model to explore how rocky planets…
A magma ocean is expected to exist on the dayside of tide-locked planets if surface temperature exceeds the melting temperature of typical crust. As highly prioritized targets for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), more information…
Interactions between magma oceans and overlying atmospheres on young rocky planets leads to an evolving feedback of outgassing, greenhouse forcing, and mantle melt fraction. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the solidification…
Understanding the physics of planetary magma oceans has been the subject of growing efforts, in light of the increasing abundance of Solar system samples and extrasolar surveys. A rocky planet harboring such an ocean is likely to interact…
We present the thermal evolution and emergent spectra of solidifying terrestrial planets along with the formation of steam atmospheres. The lifetime of a magma ocean and its spectra through a steam atmosphere depends on the orbital distance…
Earth's geodynamo has operated for over 3.5 billion years. The magnetic field is currently powered by thermocompositional convection in the outer core, which involves the release of light elements and latent heat as the inner core…
Tide-locked lava worlds are surface-melted rocky planets under 1:1 tidally locked orbit (i.e., synchronously rotating) with orbital period being equal to rotation period and with permanent hot dayside and cold nightside. Previous studies on…
Ultra-short period lava worlds offer a unique window into the coupled evolution of planetary interior and atmospheres under extreme irradiation. In this study, we investigate the mantle dynamics, nightside volcanism, and volatile outgassing…
On tidally locked lava planets, magma ocean can form on the permanent dayside. The circulation of the magma ocean can be driven by stellar radiation and atmospheric winds. The strength of ocean circulation and the depth of the magma ocean…
A theoretical model that describes the evolution of a suspension in which crystals can sediment to form a dense cumulate or may produce a light flotation crust has been derived in a companion paper. We use this model to study the thermal…
The magma ocean concept was first conceived to explain the geology of the Moon, but hemispherical or global oceans of silicate melt could be a widespread "lava world" phase of rocky planet accretion, and could persist on planets on…
Extreme instellation on lava planets causes the rocky surface to melt and vaporize. Because the rock vapour composition is intrinsically tied to the mantle, atmospheric characterization of lava planets can hold valuable insight into the…
We present a thermal evolution model coupled with a Henyey solver to study the circumstances under which a rocky planet could potentially host a dynamo in its liquid iron core and/or magma ocean. We calculate the evolution of planet thermal…
Atmospheric energy transport is central to the cooling of primordial magma oceans. Theoretical studies of atmospheres on lava planets have assumed that convection is the only process involved in setting the atmospheric temperature…
The internal thermal and magnetic evolution of rocky exoplanets is critical to their habitability. We focus on the thermal-orbital evolution of Earth-mass planets around low mass M stars whose radiative habitable zone overlaps with the…
Ultra-short-period exoplanets like K2-141 b likely have magma oceans on their dayside, which play a critical role in redistributing heat within the planet. This could lead to a warm nightside surface, measurable by the James Webb Space…
Lava worlds are a potential emerging population of Super-Earths that are on close-in orbits around their host stars with likely partially molten mantles. To date, few studies address the impact of magma on the observed properties of a…