Numerical simulation of possible surface temperatures on Proxima b (synchronous rotation)
A numerical simulation of possible surface temperatures on Proxima b performed with the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique's Planetary Global Climate Model. Here it is hypothesised that the planet possesses an Earth-like atmosphere and that it is covered by an ocean (the dashed line is the frontier between the liquid and icy oceanic surface). Two models exist for the planet's rotation. Here the planet is in synchronous rotation (like the Moon around the Earth), and is seen as a distant observer would do during one full orbit. Another model is that it is trapped in a so-called 3:2 resonance (a natural frequency for the orbit).
Two additional papers about Proxima b's possibility for habitability are described at proximacentauri.info.
Credit:M. Turbet/I. Ribas/ESO
About the Video
Id: | eso1629g |
Release date: | 24 August 2016, 19:00 |
Related releases: | eso1629 |
Duration: | 17 s |
Frame rate: | 30 fps |
About the Object
Name: | Proxima b, Proxima Centauri |
Type: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System |
Category: | Exoplanets |