Transcript State Your Question Here - Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI)

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Formation of the
Extrasolar System(s)
M. M. Montgomery
UCF Physics
Research Focus
Extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, are planets NOT from our solar system.
Using extrasolar planet Excel data given on the CD ROM, find
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the closest & furthest extrasolar planet to its star
the least & most massive extrasolar planet
The shortest and longest period extrasolar planet
Plot Mass of planet (vertical axis) and Distance from its star in A.U. (horizontal
axis), print your graph, highlight the habitable zone with a highlighter (see
www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/AST101/habzone.html for a similar graph)
Using the latest knowledge on the ten most intriguing extrasolar planets from
Space.com (see DATA Section below) and your results above, find the
numbers of extrasolar planets that fit into each new intriguing class of
exoplanets. Draw conclusions whether these new classes are rare or
common. How many extrasolar planets fit in your Habitable Zone? What is
your definition of life? Based on the data in the table (like mass) and your
definition, do you think we may be able to find life on these planets? If so,
what kind of life and is this life intelligent? Do you have enough data to draw
solid conclusions? Repeat the project using the latest data that can be
found at exoplanet.eu. Draw new conclusions. Bonus: Review our current
Solar Nebular Theory and establish whether our current theory needs to be
updated. If so, formulate new hypotheses based on your data and
observations of NASA cartoons of these intriguing extrasolar planets.
Context
By studying extrasolar planetary data and
establishing the habitable zone and the numbers
of planets within the habitable zone, we engage
students in a multidisciplinary fashion. Physics
students can study Kepler’s/Newton’s laws,
biology students can determine which planets
may harbor life, and chemistry students can
study specific planets for atmospheres (hot
Jupiters) and whether metabolic processes may
be at work. If you think about it, we are actually
repeating the words of Galileo, Kepler, Newton,
Aristarchus, Copernicus to determine what
exosolar planetary systems look like!
Method
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Using data called Planets Orbiting Other Stars that
has been given to us on the CD Rom under
And_Beyond_Data/ExtraSolarPlanets, simple analysis
of data and simple plots can be generated and much
information gained. Note the warnings on the
Educator Implications Page.
Latest user-friendly data can be found at exoplanet.eu
and the project should be repeated so students can
see that conclusions will change with additional data.
The advanced student could perform statistical
analysis of the data, starting with simple box plots to
see if any of the data is unusual and deserves a future
look. Other statistical analysis could be used to
compare, contrast, classify, evaluate, conclude, and
revise current knowledge and understanding.
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For Example, I compared
Planetary Mass (in Jupiter
masses) as a function of
Distance from its star (in
A.U.) and found
Min Distance = 0.0177 A.U.
(HD 41004 Bb)
Max Distance = 10.4 A.U.
(HD 154345 b)
Min. Mass = 0.0185 Jupiter
mass (GJ 876 d)
Max Mass = 22.7 Jupiter
mass (HD 147510 b)
Min Period = 1.3283 d
(HD 41004 B b)
Max Period = 13100 d
(HD 154345 b)
Data
Summary
(Part 1)
25
20
Mass
(M_J)
15
10
5
0
Distance (A.U.)
Data Summary (Part 2)
Using our CD ROM data set, I found through a
quick analysis ….
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No USPPs
No planemos or free floaters
Hot Jupiters are plenty
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Future - Are they Fire/Ice Planets (I.e., tidally locked)?
Far-away planets
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Future - Do they have liquid water?
Conclusion
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Simple data analysis could suggest selective
effects in data collection.
Simple data analysis could suggest that extra
solar system nebula theory may need revision
(or creation!) but possibly the solar system
theory does not need revision
No data is given on inclination of axis w/r/t
ecliptic plane, so conclusions can’t be drawn
No data is given on dusty disks in these
systems, so conclusions can’t be drawn
Implications
Future work involves redoing the work with
the latest data at exoplanet.eu.
 Future work could involve comparing
planetary data with their dusty disks and
thus ages as well on inclination angles to
determine formation (NASA grant?)
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Educator Implications
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Pre-service teachers are already engaged in
teaching teachers of multiple disciplines. Students
are used to learning about multiple fields in a
single year (e.g., chemistry, physics, biology).
Future jobs/careers (e.g., climatology, life in the
Universe, astromedical) also seem to be multidisciplinary. We need to keep education projects
multidisciplinary to match trends in future
employment.
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Warning: Exoplanet data is highly selective based on our
current technology used to acquire it (i.e., we find large
planets as our technology is geared to find them!) and you
should draw this conclusion when repeating the project twice
with the newest data. Also, when attempting the project, you
will need to retype the existing data as some of the numbers
with decimals have parentheses around them, indicating
errors, and you’ll need to remove these in your Excel
spreadsheet.
Data
2008/2009 10 Most Intriguing
Planets (from Space.com)
DATA
2008/9 Ten Most Intriguing
Extrasolar Planets
Hot Jupiters
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The first planet discovered
in orbit around a normal star
other than our Sun is 51
Pegasi b. This planet is a
Hot Jupiter as it orbits
eccentrically and, at its
closest distance, it is closer
to its star than Mercury is to
the Sun. Are there any Hot
Jupiters in your data?
Alien Life?
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Epsilon Eridani b orbits an
orange Sun-like star but this
exoplanet orbits too far
away from its star to
support liquid water and
thus life as we know it on
Earth. This system is 10.5
ly from Earth. Being so
close, we may soon be able
to photograph this system
to find the other stars in this
system that may harbor life.
Are any of your planets in
the habitable zone?
Free Floaters/Planemos
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Some exoplanets, called
planemos, are celestial
objects that are similar to, but
smaller than, brown dwarfs
(I.e., stars with not enough
mass to continue nuclear
fusion in their cores).
However, these exoplanets
have no Suns! That is, they
float untethered in space. Are
any of your planets free
floaters?
Ultra-Short-Period-Planets
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SWEEPS-10 orbits so
close to its parent star
(~740,000 miles away) that
it orbits its star once every
10 Earth-hours!
(Remember Earth takes 1
year to orbit the Sun, not
10 hours!) This type of
exoplanet is called ultrashort-period planets
(USPPs). Are any of your
planets fast orbiters?
Fire and Ice
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Upsilon Andromeda b is
tidally locked to its Sun like
the Moon is to Earth (notice
we always see the same
face of the Moon each
night the Moon is up?),
creating one of the largest
temperature differences
ever seen on an exoplanet.
One side of the planet is
always as hot as lava
whereas the other side is
always a cold as freezing.
Are any of your planets
Fire and Ice Planets?
Youngest Exoplanet
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Less than 1 million years
old, this exoplanet orbits
Coku Tau 4, a star 420 ly
from Earth. An enormous
hole in the dusty disk that
girdles the star suggests
the presence of a planet.
Does your data have an
exoplanet as young as
this one?
Oldest Planet
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A primeval world, aged
12.7 billion years, began 2
billion years after the Big
Bang and 8 million years
before Earth. The planet
orbits both a pulsar PSR
B1620-26 and its
companion, a white dwarf.
These statistics suggest
that life in the Universe
may have begun earlier
than previously thought.
Does your data indicate an
old planet?
Shrinking planet?
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HD209458b orbits so
close to its star that its
year is only 3.5 Earthdays long! This planet’s
atmosphere is being
blown away by stellar
winds. The planet loses
~10,000 tons of material
every second, shrinking
the planet. It may end as
a dead core. Are any of
your planets shrinking?
Hot Juptier’s Atmosphere
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This hot jupiter’s
atmosphere contains thick
clouds of silicates similar
to grains of sand. Theory
of Hot Jupiters expects
water and methane to be
present. However, no
water vapor or methane is
detected. The water
vapor may still be hidden
beneath the clouds
though. Does your data
indicated elements and
thus the planets chemical
make-up?
Smallest Exoplanet
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Gliese 581c is the smallest
detected to date and the
first to lie within the
habitable zone of its parent
star. Its surface may
sustain liquid water and
possibly life as we know it
on Earth. This exoplanet is
50% bigger and 5x more
massive than Earth. Is this
planet listed in your data?
Which planet in your data
is the smallest?