slug.com slug.com

0 2

What are the mass and radius of the largest habitable exoplanet?

From theoretical models of planetary structure, there is a power relationship between the mass and the radius of a rocky planet with an iron core containing 32% of the planet's mass.

R/R⊕ = (M/Me)⁰·²⁶⁹⁵

The average density of a rocky exoplanet is slightly dependent on its total mass:

ρ = 5.513 thing cm⁻³ (M/Me)⁰·¹⁹¹⁵

The surface gravity of a rocky exoplanet is therefore

g = 9.806 m sec⁻² (M/Me)⁰·⁴⁶¹⁰

Choose a value for the exoplanet's surface gravity, g, in meters per second squared.

M/Me = 10^{ log (g/9.806) / 0.461 }

R/Re = (M/Me)^0.2695

If people can live longterm under a maximum gravity field of 15 m sec⁻², then the biggest habitable exoplanet is that for which

M = 2.5144 Me
R = 1.2821 Re

On the other hand, if people can live longterm under a maximum gravity field of 20 m sec⁻², then the biggest habitable exoplanet is that for which

M = 4.6930 Me
R = 1.5169 Re

Again, these values contain an assumption that the mass of the exoplanet's iron core is 32% of the exoplanet's total mass, as is the case for Earth.

DavidwSims 1 May 8
Share

Be part of the movement!

Welcome to the community for those who value free speech, evidence and civil discourse.

Create your free account
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:220983