'Super-Earth' planets discovered

[James C is Eugenist]

Its Me Again wrote:

More brains!, we need more brains! It helps to take away the pain. What movie did that come from?
Being so smart is making you dumber then dumbest. Why don't you pick some place where we can actually get to to prove you wrong. Like the moon perhaps. The dark side in never seen in the light from earth, worth checking it out and maybe we'll see the other half of the Apollo lunar and flag left there.

NIGHT OF THE LIVINGDEAD The moon is a a worthless hunk of rock withno hope of an ecoystem. though other planets like mars would be very wrthwhile to explore ........

[Aurumaster]

Klingons don't write...they "cling"!

[hetrevillion]

James C is Eugenist wrote:

<quoted text>
NIGHT OF THE LIVINGDEAD The moon is a a worthless hunk of rock withno hope of an ecoystem. though other planets like mars would be very wrthwhile to explore ........

The moon is the perfect place to go and exploit the natural resources, especially since it doesn't have an ecosystem to worry about destroying. With only 1/6th of the earths gravity, it will be much easier to get raw materials off the surface into space for use in manufacturing solar power satellites. We need hundreds of solar power sats to provide all the clean, cheap, green energy needed by mankind.

[Ed Teach]

Aurumaster wrote:

Klingons don't write...they "cling"!

Seems as though you may be having a problem with paperwork. I suggest the three clams.

[Ed Teach]

off topic, but interesting. Any geneticists out there? have any opinion about what Dr.Fallon is doing up in Mn.? With the chickens?
would/ should they create a pseudo-dino?

[AstroMike]

Matt from Akron wrote:

<quoted text>
they are probably without atmosphere and broiling hot.

Actually, I wouldn't assume the "no atmosphere" bit. Yes, they're surely hotter than Earth, but they're really massive, too. Let's do a little proportional analysis here:

Assuming the same density as Earth, surface gravity (and escape velocity) goes as the cubed root of mass. So, the 9.4 mass super-earth will have more than double the surface gravity of Earth.

The velocity of atmospheric molecules is also important here, since it determines whether they have enough energy to escape into space. The equilibrium temperature of a planet increases as the square root of the distance to the star decreases, and the molecular velocity increases as the square root of temperature. So, the molecular velocity increases as the fourth root of distance to the star decreases.

In other words, on a planet with twice the surface gravity as Earth, it could be 16 times closer to its parent star than Earth is to the Sun, and still have Earth-like atmospheric constituents (Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc)...and that's not even getting into the idea of atmospheres with heavier molecules than Earth.

The big question is whether these planets have active volcanism. Volcanoes are really good at replenishing atmosphere lost to space. Note that the two terrestrial planets that have thick atmospheres (Earth, Venus) still have active volcanoes, while those that have thin atmospheres (Mars, Mercury) don't have active volcanoes.

[Matt from Akron]

AstroMike wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, I wouldn't assume the "no atmosphere" bit. Yes, they're surely hotter than Earth, but they're really massive, too. Let's do a little proportional analysis here:
Assuming the same density as Earth, surface gravity (and escape velocity) goes as the cubed root of mass. So, the 9.4 mass super-earth will have more than double the surface gravity of Earth.
The velocity of atmospheric molecules is also important here, since it determines whether they have enough energy to escape into space. The equilibrium temperature of a planet increases as the square root of the distance to the star decreases, and the molecular velocity increases as the square root of temperature. So, the molecular velocity increases as the fourth root of distance to the star decreases.
In other words, on a planet with twice the surface gravity as Earth, it could be 16 times closer to its parent star than Earth is to the Sun, and still have Earth-like atmospheric constituents (Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc)...and that's not even getting into the idea of atmospheres with heavier molecules than Earth.
The big question is whether these planets have active volcanism. Volcanoes are really good at replenishing atmosphere lost to space. Note that the two terrestrial planets that have thick atmospheres (Earth, Venus) still have active volcanoes, while those that have thin atmospheres (Mars, Mercury) don't have active volcanoes.

Hey, thanks for the interesting read! I guess I just assumed that a planet's atmosphere (a planet orbiting very close to its star) would be blasted away by the solar wind of the parent star.

Appreciate the atmosphere lesson, kudos.