It Should Be Easiest to Search for Young Earth-like Planets When They’re Completely Covered in Magma

Artist's impression of magma ocean planet. Credit: Mark Garlick

How did Earth evolve from an ocean of magma to the vibrant, life-supporting, blue jewel it is now? In its early years, the Earth was a blistering hot ball of magma. Now, 4.5 billion years later, it’s barely recognizable.

Is it possible to find exoplanets out there in the vast expanse, which are young molten globes much like young Earth was? How many of them can we expect to find? Where will we find them?

Continue reading “It Should Be Easiest to Search for Young Earth-like Planets When They’re Completely Covered in Magma”

Astronomy Cast Ep. 496: Update on Stellar populations (I, II, & III)

Another update show, this time on the various generations of stars, let’s get into it.

We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / 20:00 PM UTC. You can watch us live on AstronomyCast.com, or the AstronomyCast YouTube page.

Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast!

If you would like to support Astronomy Cast, please visit our page at Patreon here – https://www.patreon.com/astronomycast. We greatly appreciate your support!

If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site here and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions!