Iron planet
An iron planet is a terrestrial planet that consists mainly of a highly compressed iron core and has no or almost no mantle. In our solar system , Mercury is the largest member of this genus, but it is believed that there are exoplanets that are significantly larger and are made entirely of iron.
Emergence
Iron planets can be formed when an ordinary iron- silicate planet (such as the earth ) is changed by the impact of a very large body. Such an impact can dissolve the planet's mantle and hurl it into space, leaving the highly dense and relatively stable iron core.
Current planetary simulations predict that iron planets should arise above all in systems in which planets orbit their central star in a very close orbit . Even in systems that are dominated by a particularly large star , the protoplanetary disk should be rich in iron and produce iron planets.
properties
Iron planets should cool down very quickly because they lack a mantle and because of their high density they have a corresponding surface-volume ratio . It is therefore not to be expected that such planets will develop a magnetic field or show tectonic processes on their surface.
Examples (candidates)
Individual evidence
- ^ Scientists Model a Cornucopia of Earth-sized Planets. Goddard Space Flight Center , accessed August 15, 2018 .
- ^ CR Kitchin: Exoplanets Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds . Springer Science & Business Media, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4614-0644-0 , pp. 189 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ space.com: Cannonball-Like Exoplanet Is an Earth-Size Mercury , accessed August 18, 2018