Current theories of water levels on what are called Jupiter-Class planets may have taken a big hit with some recent discoveries. These theories suggest that a certain amount of water is needed in order for a planet to form.
The results of some recent examinations on these so called Jupiter-Class planets – i.e, planets that are somewhat similar to Jupiter – has shown that the heat of these planets is unexpectedly dry, a lot drier than experts have previously predicted.
The size and heat levels of these planets make it fairly easy for astronomers to examine the water levels – as well as other data – on these Jupiter-Class planets, which means that astronomers are currently working on several examinations of these planets, similar to one that examined the planets’ water levels.
Due to the fact that these planets are suffering from a dry heat, water levels are much less than planet formation theories have predicted. If the abundances are substantially less than theories predict, as a growing body of evidence suggests for some of these planetary systems, fully characterizing the atmospheres of these planets would warrant a newer, and better, telescopes that are much more sophisticated than the ones we currently have, as well as telescopes that are currently in development.
The examinations of the three Jupiter-Class planets showed water concentrations well below solar abundances – something which previous theories have relied on. The measurements were only 1 percent of solar abundance for one of the planets examined, while another planet had .7 percent of solar abundance. However, these measure weren’t extremely precise, which means that the reality may be closer to what the theories have previously predicted.
Nikku Madhusudhan, who led the team that made these observations, has said that him and his team “are working on several scenarios of planet formation that can make hot Jupiters close to their stars that explains the low abundance that we see.”