Projektbeschreibung
Unser Verständnis von Exoplaneten vergrößern
Seit der Entdeckung des ersten Exoplaneten, der einen sonnenähnlichen Stern umkreist, im Jahr 1995 wurden Tausende weitere gefunden. Die Erforschung von Exoplaneten ist ein sich rasch entwickelndes und aktives Forschungsgebiet. Das vom Europäischen Forschungsrat finanzierte Projekt N-GINE verfolgt das Ziel, unser Verständnis von Riesenplaneten innerhalb und außerhalb des Sonnensystems sowie ihrer Entstehung verbessern. Das Projekt zielt darauf ab, neue Erkenntnisse aus den jüngsten Daten der Cassini- und Juno-Missionen in die Erforschung von Exoplaneten einzubeziehen. Diese Missionen haben verdeutlicht, dass das Innere von Jupiter und Saturn komplexer als bisher angenommen ist. N-GINE zielt darauf ab, diese Wissenslücke durch die Entwicklung neuer Modelle für das Innere und die Atmosphäre von Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptun und riesigen Exoplaneten zu schließen.
Ziel
The prevalence of metals in exoplanet atmospheres is considered an important tracer of the formation of gas giants. However, the current theoretical framework is founded on the critical assumption that such planets are composed of a core surrounded by a homogeneous and well-mixed envelope. Recent data from Cassini and Juno show differently, resulting in a paradigm shift in the interiors of Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter's envelope is now shown to be non-homogeneous, leading to new pathways for studying the interactions between giant planet interiors with their atmospheric constituents. This new knowledge desperately needs to be incorporated in exoplanet studies. This is the aim of N-GINE.
We are in a unique time for this study. We have extraordinary data to study the giants in the solar system, and the JWST will provide exceptional data on exoplanets’ atmospheres. Now is the time to gather the stunning amount of exoplanet data and the detailed insights supplied by our solar system and get integrated knowledge coming from all giant planets.
I have unique expertise in these fields to fill this gap and lead a team of 3 PhD students and 2 postdocs to work at the frontier of exoplanets and solar system science. We will provide the community with the first open-source retrieval tool for exoplanet interiors based on my state-of-the-art models for Jupiter, use JWST to compile the first database on refractory species in exoplanet atmospheres (indicating the solids accreted during formation), study atmosphere-interior interactions with self-consistent atmospheric radiative transfer and interior models, and go beyond the state-of-the-art with new interior models for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune with non-homogenous interiors and using Neural Networks. The impact of the new interior models developed in N-GINE will also affect atmospheric chemical and retrieval calculations, revolutionizing the way of interpreting observations in exoplanets and learning about their origins.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetsexoplanetology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetsgiant planetsgas giants
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencecomputational intelligence
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Gastgebende Einrichtung
3526 KV Utrecht
Niederlande