Could the properties of an M-dwarf that might make it inhospitable also give it transformative powers? Could the star’s gravity and violence strip away a planet’s thick atmosphere, or envelope, to reveal a habitable core?
Why do planetary disks fade away so fast? A leading candidate as villain in this story is turbulence. Using the combined strengths of sophisticated theoretical models and observations, we might be able to find out if this is true!
The recent discoveries of alien worlds seemingly rich in carbon reveal a lot of diverse information about the history and further evolutionary paths of exoplanets. However, a correct physical understanding of the investigated systems is crucial for getting the most out of incoming data and is an area of very active research. Therefore, the theoretical modeling of exoplanetary systems must be advanced to a state which includes the long-term evolution of the distribution of detectable molecular species in the planet forming environment.
Are more massive stars more likely to have planets? Read on to find out…
Super-Earths could form close-in to their stars… but what about their atmospheres?
Only the combined effort of observational and theoretical methods can really bring us to a more thorough understanding of the Universe throughout all spatial scales. The authors of today’s paper use and adapt the moving-mesh fluid mechanics code AREPO to function with protoplanetary disks and test its imprint on the potential of planets to open up gaps in the surrounding gas.