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| Research | |
| My research comprises the internal structure and thermal evolution of super-Earths. These are planets in the 1-10 earth-mass range with characteristics most similar to our own planet. In the past decade astronomers have found more than 200 planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Thanks to improvements in detection methods, five super-Earths have been observed from the ground in the last two years. In the near future, with space missions Kepler and CoRoT, and other future projects/missions (i.e. Automated Planet Finder, Darwin, TPF) many more super-Earth detections are expected. |
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My work can help determine the composition of a planet from mass and radius measurements that will be available with Kepler and HARPS-NEF. This is the first step towards really characterizing these planets. In particular, if the radius lies above the Terrestrial Threshold radius (maximum radius for a rocky planet), the planet is necessarily 'ocean-like'. How similar to Earth can super-Earths be? |
GJ 876d - first super-Earth |
I am interested in modelling the thermal evolution of Super-Earths and in particular assess the role of total mass in determining the thermal evolution of a planet. The Earth is the only planet known to be in a plate tectonics regime whereas the other terrestrial objects in the solar system convect with a stagnant lid. Perhaps this is not a coincidence. Can super-Earths evolve habitable surface conditions? |
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| Updated July 2008 |
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