Interior dynamics of tidally locked super-Earths

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• Dr. Tobias Meier, University of Oxford
• Tuesday 10 October 2023, 13:00-14:00
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Matthew Hooton.

Many super-Earths are very close to their host star and are therefore likely to be tidally locked. Tidally locked super-Earths experience intense solar heating on their permanent dayside, while the nightside surface can reach extremely cold temperatures. In this presentation, I will show how this extreme contrast between the dayside and nightside surface temperature influences the mantle dynamics of rocky super-Earths. I will first discuss the case of super-Earth GJ 486b, for which it is not known whether this planet was able to retain an atmosphere are not. Subsequently, I will present results for super-Earths that experience stellar irradiation high enough to harbour a magma ocean, such as 55 Cancri e or K2-141b. When the planet’s dayside is covered by a thick magma ocean, our simulations reveal the formation of a hot super-plume that ascends towards the magma ocean which could facilitate the recycling of material between the nightside and dayside. Given the undergoing observations of these planets by JWST , understanding the interplay between the planet’s atmosphere, magma ocean, and underlying solid mantle becomes particularly crucial.

This talk is part of the Exoplanet Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
• Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
• Exoplanet Seminars
• Institute of Astronomy Talk Lists
• LCLU Departmental Talks
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email

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