Contours of retained atmospheric mass after core-powered mass loss, with observed planets overlaid

Retained H/He in Super-Earth Atmospheres

In Misener & Schlichting (2021), I show that at the end of core-powered mass loss, super-Earth cores are able to cool faster than their atmospheres lose mass, allowing the atmospheres to contract and preserve any remaining primordial gas. I derive analytic scalings, complemented by numerical results, which show the diverse final atmospheric states super-Earths can have.

Will demonstrating the transit method at EYU

About me

I'm a San Franciscan who journeyed to the cold winters of the University of Chicago for undergrad, came back to the sunny West Coast for my advanced studies, and now find myself in the nation's capital. I want to reveal the physical mechanisms behind the formation, structure, and evolution of planets, both within our Solar System and beyond in the ever-increasing realm of exoplanetary systems.