Dartmouth Events

Abstract: TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star, hosts seven Earth-sized, temperate exoplanets. This situates this system as the optimal setting to study the evolution and formation of terrestrial planets that formed in the same protoplanetary disk and under similar conditions. Understanding how this system’s bodies grew and settled with equilibrium temperatures that can sustain liquid surface water is one of the driving questions of understanding planetary formation histories that yield habitable planets. Clarity surrounding the formation and accretion processes of rocky worlds still eludes us, and consequently, the physical and geochemical evolution of these planets needs further exploration. Utilizing N-Body simulations and isotopic modeling, this study explores how the core-mass fraction and mantle oxidation state of terrestrial bodies with varying initial parameters changes as they accrete over time. Discernment of the formation of rocky bodies, which will inevitably yield a greater understanding of the processes that contribute to planetary habitability and it will provide insight into Earth’s history.

Advisor: Professor John Thorstensen

Join Zoom Meeting
https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/91669850410?pwd=eFUycEttZHZ3QmZSYTlFRC9RNE50Zz09

Meeting ID: 916 6985 0410
Email physics.department@dartmouth.edu for passcode