The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) participates in the development of a 3D global climate model of the exoplanet LP 890-9c, a way to study distant twins of venus and earth and know its evolution.
Although more than 5,400 planets are known around distant starsone similar of the current challenges of science resides in detecting planets to Earth and studying their atmospheres.
As distance limits observations, an international scientific team including the IAA-CISC, based in Grenada, is developing a climate model for rocky exoplanets.
this tool seeks to be able to differentiate between planets similar to Venusin which it is not possible to live, of those that are similar to the Earth and that, therefore, would allow life.
The team chose the planet LP 890-9 c, located 106 light years away and discovered in 2022to develop a 3D global climate model.
With 1.37 times the Earth’s diameter, the planet revolves around a red dwarf star -smaller and colder than the Sun- at a distance that places it in the habitable zone, the region where pressure and temperature conditions would allow the existence of liquid water on the surface.
This exoplanet is also very close to the region in which a runaway greenhouse effectlike that seen on Venus.
Door open to further research
The possibility that this planet is similar to Venus makes it an ideal laboratory to study the atmospheric evolution of planets to Earth and explain the difference between the two.
«Our model claims serve as support for the interpretation of future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope or with the future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and will allow us to better characterize what we see in the atmosphere of these planets», explained Diogo Quirino, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA). .
Venus was thought until a few decades ago possible earth twinalthough with an atmospheric pressure ninety times greater and more temperature.
«However, it is quite possible that both share similar childhoods, with volcanic activity releasing gases and forming atmospheres, and possibly liquid water on their surfaces, something we are looking to confirm with EnVision, ESA’s next mission to Venus.» added the IAA-CSIC researcher Gabriella Gilli
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The use of 3D models allow calculation of emitted radiation by the planet in certain regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and calculate how the infrared radiation emitted by the planet can vary throughout its orbit.
«The idea of this work is to be prepared for when we detect a venus analogue: that we are capable of recognizing it as such», Gilli has summarized.