Descrizione del progetto
L’origine della Terra come pianeta abitabile
Nonostante siano stati formulati diversi modelli negli ultimi decenni, il quesito fondamentale relativo a come si sia formata la Terra, identificando le proprietà che l’hanno resa un pianeta abitabile, rimane irrisolto. Tutti i modelli proposti sono stati testati solo rispetto a un numero limitato di vincoli (a volte vincoli diversi per modelli diversi, senza un’intersezione comune). L’obiettivo del progetto HolyEarth, finanziato dall’UE, è di risolvere questa difficoltà con un approccio olistico, che consiste nel considerare l’insieme più ampio di vincoli osservativi disponibili al fine di identificare uno scenario unico che, per la prima volta, soddisfi simultaneamente tutti questi vincoli in modo autocoerente e collochi la formazione della Terra nel contesto di un’evoluzione cosmica in relazione a stelle e pianeti.
Obiettivo
How did Earth form with the properties that made it the only inhabited planet of the Solar System? Answering this question is the Holy Grail of planetary science and is key for (i) placing the formation of Earth into the context of general planet formation (ii) unveiling the fundamental processes that led to the formation of a planet able to sustain life and (iii) assessing the likelihood that similar processes occurred in other, extrasolar systems. However, despite decades of research, it is still unknown how Earth formed. Although several competing models exist, the reason we do not yet have a consensus on how Earth formed is that all proposed models have only been tested against a limited number of constraints (and sometimes different constraints for different models) with no common intersection. HolyEarth will overcome these limitations by developing a holistic approach to understand Earth’s formation that is based on the largest set of observational constraints: orbits, masses, formation timescales, chemical and isotopic properties of terrestrial planets and meteorites, and the structure of the asteroid belt (the relict of planet formation). The overarching goal of this project is to identify a unique scenario which, for the first time, simultaneously satisfies all these constraints in a self-consistent way. This project will break the boundaries between Earth science and astronomy by placing the formation of Earth in the context of a cosmic evolution towards stars and planets. Its impact will reach other scientific domains, such as biology and exobiology, and resonate with the public’s keen interest in the question of our origins.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantIstituzione ospitante
75794 Paris
Francia