Scientists wielded giant lasers to simulate an exoplanet's super-hot core

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Researchers explored how exoplanets form magnetospheres—magnetic fields that protect from solar radiation—as a window into habitability.

A super-Earth exoplanet's cross-section, revealing the mantle and core. The National Ignition Facility's target chamber is superimposed over the mantle.The molten cores of larger rocky exoplanets should stay hot longer than those within small worlds, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. That’s good news for interstellar explorers–because a molten core is probably required for life to develop on a planet.

Magnetic fields are a result of molten planetary cores. Earth has a core composed mostly of iron, split into a solid inner core and a liquid outer core. Earth’s magnetic field is caused by the convection of the liquid iron, meaning how it swirls: The cooler, denser liquid areas sink to the bottom, while the hotter ones rise like wax in a lava lamp.

The team found that “as you increase the pressure, the temperature increases, quite rapidly,” Kraus says. For exoplanets, that means the larger they get, the longer it will take their cores to solidify. The super-Earths that are between four and six times Earth’s mass would take the longest, he says. The team estimates that it will take a total of 6 billion years for Earth’s core to solidify, whereas cores in large exoplanets of similar composition to Earth should take up to 30 percent longer.

 

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