New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Earth-like planets have Earth-like interiors

Date:
February 8, 2016
Source:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Summary:
Every school kid learns the basic structure of the Earth: a thin outer crust, a thick mantle, and a Mars-sized core. But is this structure universal? Will rocky exoplanets orbiting other stars have the same three layers? New research suggests that the answer is yes -- they will have interiors very similar to Earth.
Share:
FULL STORY

Every school kid learns the basic structure of Earth: a thin outer crust, a thick mantle, and a Mars-sized core. But is this structure universal? Will rocky exoplanets orbiting other stars have the same three layers? New research suggests that the answer is yes -- they will have interiors very similar to Earth.

"We wanted to see how Earth-like these rocky planets are. It turns out they are very Earth-like," says lead author Li Zeng of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

To reach this conclusion Zeng and his co-authors applied a computer model known as the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM), which is the standard model for Earth's interior. They adjusted it to accommodate different masses and compositions, and applied it to six known rocky exoplanets with well-measured masses and physical sizes.

They found that the other planets, despite their differences from Earth, all should have a nickel/iron core containing about 30 percent of the planet's mass. In comparison, about a third of Earth's mass is in its core. The remainder of each planet would be mantle and crust, just as with Earth.

"We've only understood Earth's structure for the past hundred years. Now we can calculate the structures of planets orbiting other stars, even though we can't visit them," adds Zeng.

The new code also can be applied to smaller, icier worlds like the moons and dwarf planets in the outer solar system. For example, by plugging in the mass and size of Pluto, the team finds that Pluto is about one-third ice (mostly water ice but also ammonia and methane ices).

The model assumes that distant exoplanets have chemical compositions similar to Earth. This is reasonable based on the relevant abundances of key chemical elements like iron, magnesium, silicon, and oxygen in nearby systems. However, planets forming in more or less metal-rich regions of the galaxy could show different interior structures. The team expects to explore these questions in future research.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Li Zeng, Dimitar Sasselov, Stein Jacobsen. Mass-Radius Relation for Rocky Planets based on PREM. The Astrophysical Journal, February 2016

Cite This Page:

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "Earth-like planets have Earth-like interiors." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 February 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208124245.htm>.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. (2016, February 8). Earth-like planets have Earth-like interiors. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208124245.htm
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "Earth-like planets have Earth-like interiors." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208124245.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES