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Tuesday, 30 October 2007 08:10 |
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Image: NASA. | NASA Postdoctoral Associate John Debes and Steinn Sigurdsson, an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University, were featured in a 24 September Earth and Sky Broadcast, "Lonely interstellar Earths might roam galaxy." Debes and Sigurdsson have used a computer to simulate what would happen in a newborn solar system if a planet like Earth with a satellite like the moon passed near a giant planet like Jupiter. The simulation showed that the giant planet's gravity can eject the Earth-Moon system into interstellar space, and that it is still possible for the system to survive in such a scenario--if the planet could maintain its atmosphere, generate enough internal heat, and support liquid water below a thick frozen crust. The Moon, in turn, could raise tides in the ocean of such a world, warming the planet and keeping its water liquid for more than a hundred million years. Debes and Sigurdsson's research is also highlighted in a 23 October Sky and Telescope article and in the 20 October issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Click here for the abstract.
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