When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.A new experiment created the pressure experienced at the core of an alien world more than three times larger than Earth — a super-Earth — to investigate what happens to materials in its depths. | Credit: M. Kornmesser/ESO”Super-Earth” exoplanets may have an in-built way to protect themselves from harmful radiation, giving any potential life on such worlds a better chance of surviving, according to recent research.Super-Earths, worlds larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, are among the most commonly detected types of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, in the Milky Way. Because many have been found within their stars’ habitable zones — regions where liquid water could exist and, thus, potentially support life — scientists have increasingly focused on whether these planets can sustain life-friendly conditions over billions of years.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe new study suggests that many super-Earths may be able to generate powerful magnetic fields from molten rock not in their cores, like Earth does, but in a layer sandwiched between the core and mantle.”A strong magnetic field is very important for life on a planet,” study lead Miki Nakajima, an associate professor in the department of Earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester in New York, said in a statement. “Super-earths can produce dynamos in their core and/or magma, which can increase their planetary habitability.”The findings, published Jan. 15 in the journal Nature Astronomy, help resolve a long-standing puzzle about how super-Earths might maintain magnetic fields despite interiors whose structures differ from Earth’s, the researchers say.”This paper suggests that, like in many other things, exoplanets might not necessarily follow the solar system paradigm concerning magnetic field generation,” Luca Maltagliati, a senior editor at Nature Astronomy, who was not involved with the new study, wrote in a brief piece summarizing the findings. “Planets with masses 3-6 times that of Earth might have their main magnetic field engine not in the core like the Earth but in a layer between the core and mantle.”AdvertisementAdvertisementLong-lived magnetic shields are considered essential for habitability because they help prevent planetary atmospheres from being stripped away by stellar winds and protect surfaces from harmful cosmic and stellar radiation.Without such protection, even planets located in otherwise favorable habitable zones may struggle to maintain the conditions needed for life, meaning such magma-driven magnetic fields could play a crucial role in making super-Earths habitable across the galaxy.Earth’s magnetic field, which has operated for more than 3 billion years, is generated by the movement of liquid iron in the outer core surrounding a solid inner core. That inner core is critical because it releases heat and lighter elements that keep the molten outer core moving, allowing our planet to sustain its magnetic field.But larger rocky worlds such as super-Earths are thought to have cores that are either fully solid or fully liquid, which typically limit the operation of a conventional, Earth-like core dynamo.An illustration shows the layers of Earth, including the core, which generates our planet’s protective magnetic bubble. | Credit: Vadim Sadovski/ShutterstockNakajima and her team point …
