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Date Time Lab team uses giant lasers to compress iron oxide, revealing secret interior of rocky exoplanets An artistic rendering of the interior structure of Earth (left) compared to a large rocky exoplanet (right). Credit: John Jett and Federica Coppari/LLNL. Advances in astronomical observations have resulted in the discovery of an extraordinary number of extrasolar planets, some of which are believed to have a rocky composition similar to Earth. Learning more about their interior structure could provide important clues about their potential habitability. Led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a team of researchers aims to unlock some of these secrets by understanding the properties of iron oxide – one of the constituents of Earth’s mantle – at the extreme pressures and temperatures that are likely found in the interiors of these large rocky extrasolar planets. The results of their experiments were published today in Nature Geoscience. ....
Researchers have created the first model of carbon structures that may make up planets outside the solar system by measuring carbon at the highest pressures ever achieved in a laboratory. Carbon is one of the most prevalent elements in existence. As the fourth most abundant element in the universe, it’s a building block for all known life and forms the interior of carbon-rich exoplanets. “This is the highest pressure any atomic structure has been measured…” Decades of research has shown that carbon’s crystal structure has a significant impact on a material’s properties. In addition to graphite and diamond the most common carbon structures found at ambient pressures scientists have predicted that there are several new structures of carbon that could be found at pressures above 1,000 gigapascals (GPa). ....