{"id":509402,"date":"2022-02-01T12:30:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T17:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=509402"},"modified":"2024-06-17T10:36:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:36:34","slug":"moon-formations-habitable-exoplanets-509402","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/moon-formations-habitable-exoplanets-509402\/","title":{"rendered":"Moons may yield clues to what makes planets habitable"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the search for Earth-like planets, University of Rochester scientist Miki Nakajima turns to computer simulations of moon formations.<\/h2>\n

Earth\u2019s moon is vitally important in making Earth the planet we know today: the moon controls the length of the day and ocean tides, which affect the biological cycles of lifeforms on our planet. The moon also contributes to Earth\u2019s climate by stabilizing Earth\u2019s spin axis, offering an ideal environment for life to develop and evolve.<\/p>\n

Because the moon is so important to life on Earth, scientists conjecture that a moon may be a potentially beneficial feature in harboring life on other planets. Most planets have moons, but Earth\u2019s moon is distinct in that it is large compared to the size of Earth; the moon\u2019s radius is larger than a quarter of Earth\u2019s radius, a much larger ratio than most moons to their planets.<\/p>\n

Miki Nakajima<\/a>, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences<\/a> at the University of Rochester<\/a>, finds that distinction significant. And in a new study that she led, published in Nature Communications<\/em>,<\/a> she and her colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona examine moon formations and conclude that only certain types of planets can form moons that are large in respect to their host planets.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy understanding moon formations, we have a better constraint on what to look for when searching for Earth-like planets,\u201d Nakajima says. \u201cWe expect that exomoons [moons orbiting planets outside our solar system] should be everywhere, but so far we haven\u2019t confirmed any. Our constraints will be helpful for future observations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Miki
\u201cBy understanding moon formations, we have a better constraint on what to look for when searching for Earth-like planets,\u201d Miki Nakajima says. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The origin of Earth\u2019s moon<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many scientists have historically believed Earth\u2019s large moon was generated by a collision between proto-Earth\u2014Earth at its early stages of development\u2014and a large, Mars-sized impactor, approximately 4.5 billion years ago. The collision resulted in the formation of a partially vaporized disk around Earth, which eventually formed into the moon.<\/p>\n

In order to find out whether other planets can form similarly large moons, Nakajima and her colleagues conducted impact simulations on the computer, with a number of hypothetical Earth-like rocky planets and icy planets of varying masses. They hoped to identify whether the simulated impacts would result in partially vaporized disks, like the disk that formed Earth\u2019s moon.<\/p>\n

The researchers found that rocky planets larger than six times the mass of Earth (6M) and icy planets larger than one Earth mass (1M) produce fully\u2014rather than partially\u2014vaporized disks, and these fully-vaporized disks are not capable of forming fractionally large moons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that if the planet is too massive, these impacts produce completely vapor disks because impacts between massive planets are generally more energetic than those between small planets,\u201d Nakajima says.<\/p>\n

After an impact that results in a vaporized disk, over time, the disk cools and liquid moonlets\u2014a moon\u2019s building blocks\u2014emerge. In a fully-vaporized disk, the growing moonlets in the disk experience strong gas drag from vapor, falling onto the planet very quickly. In contrast, if the disk is only partially vaporized, moonlets do not feel such strong gas drag.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, we conclude that a completely vapor disk is not capable of forming fractionally large moons,\u201d Nakajima says. \u201cPlanetary masses need to be smaller than those thresholds we identified in order to produce such moons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The search for Earth-like planets<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The constraints outlined by Nakajima and her colleagues are important for astronomers investigating our universe; researchers have detected thousands of exoplanets and possible exomoons, but have yet to definitively spot a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system.<\/p>\n

This research may give them a better idea of where to look.<\/p>\n

As Nakajima says: \u201cThe exoplanet search has typically been focused on planets larger than six earth masses. We are proposing that instead we should look at smaller planets because they are probably better candidates to host fractionally large moons.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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