Description du projet
Améliorer notre compréhension des exoplanètes
Depuis la découverte de la première exoplanète en orbite autour d’une étoile semblable au Soleil en 1995, des milliers d’autres ont été identifiées. L’étude des exoplanètes est un domaine qui évolue rapidement et qui fait l’objet de recherches actives. Le projet N-GINE, financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, entend améliorer notre compréhension des planètes géantes à l’intérieur et au-delà du système solaire, ainsi que de leurs origines. Le projet cherche à intégrer les nouvelles connaissances acquises grâce aux données récemment recueillies par les missions Cassini et Juno consacrées à l’étude des exoplanètes. Ces missions ont révélé que l’intérieur de Jupiter et de Saturne est plus complexe qu’on ne le pensait. N-GINE vise à combler les lacunes de connaissances en développant de nouveaux modèles pour l’intérieur et l’atmosphère de Jupiter, de Saturne, d’Uranus, de Neptune et des exoplanètes géantes.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetsexoplanetology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetsgiant planetsgas giants
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencecomputational intelligence
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Institution d’accueil
3526 KV Utrecht
Pays-Bas