Oxygen-Rich Exoplanets May Be Geologically Active

 

Aidan Gegenwarth

Mr. Ippolito

Science 9 Chemistry

1/25/22

 

Kim, Shi En. “Oxygen-Rich Exoplanets May Be Geologically Active.” Science News, 12 Jan. 2022, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/exoplanets-oxygen-rocks-melt-geological-active. 

This article is about an experiment that showed how oxygen-exposed rocks melted at a lower temperature than rocks that weren’t exposed to any oxygen. The experiment measured the melting points of different rocks under 2 environments: in oxygen-rich air and under oxygen-starved conditions. Because oxygen makes rocks melt at lower temperatures, that means that oxygen-rich exoplanets could have gooey mantles and would be geologically active. 

This is important because the findings of this experiment could help us explain the formation of exoplanets. Understanding oxygen’s effect on rocks could help scientists figure out the inner workings and the history of an exoplanet. This is especially important right now because of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is going to observe the atmospheres of exoplanets.

The article did a great job of explaining the researcher’s research process and the results. It also did a good job getting a quote from a planetary scientist from Oxford. However, the article was weak in some ways like how it would skip around. I found that the article would kind of bounce around from topic to topic and didn’t stay on one thing too long. That could be improved by putting the article into 2 sections: explaining the research and then explaining how this affects exoplanets.