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The research shows that other planets have more water than previously believed and can produce it internally.
By Shula Rosen
Scientists from the United States and Israel say many distant planets could have far more water than previously believed — not because they formed near ice, but because they may create water deep inside their interiors.
The research focuses on “sub-Neptunes,” a common type of planet that is a few times larger than Earth and wrapped in thick layers of hydrogen.
The study, published in Nature and led by Prof. Dan Shim of Arizona State University and Prof. Alona Vazan of the Open University of Israel, tested what happens when hydrogen is pushed to extreme pressures and temperatures similar to those inside these planets.
Their experiments showed that dense hydrogen can react with molten rock and produce large amounts of water.
Earlier theories said water-rich planets had to form far from their stars, where ice can exist, and then move inward.
The new results challenge that view. According to the researchers, the interior of a sub-Neptune is so hot and highly pressurized that hydrogen can strip oxygen from molten rock.
That oxygen then binds with hydrogen to form water. The tests also showed the formation of silicon-hydrogen compounds at the same time.
To recreate these conditions, the scientists used a diamond anvil cell — a device that squeezes materials to enormous pressures — and heated the samples with a powerful laser.
The procedure created pressures of several gigapascals and temperatures of roughly 3,000 kelvins. The amount of water observed in the reacted material was thousands of times higher than what earlier, lower-pressure models suggested.
Computer simulations run by the team indicate that once water forms, it can move throughout the planet’s deep layers. This means the process may continue for billions of years as long as molten rock remains inside.
The researchers say this could explain why some water-rich sub-Neptunes orbit extremely close to their stars, where ice could not have survived during formation.
They also note that if these planets lose much of their hydrogen atmospheres over time, they may become super-Earths that still hold large amounts of internal water.
Shim said the work changes expectations about which planets might become water rich. Vazan added that the research challenges “the long-assumed link between a planet’s orbital position and its water content.”
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