Quick Shot

Experiments at LLE have yielded the highest-pressure x-ray diffraction data ever recorded in order to simulate the conditions inside a planet three-times as large as earth, or “super-Earth.” These results are significant because they allow scientists to perform direct experiments to test the possible structure and composition of super-Earth planets. The experiments yielded pressures up to 13 million times the atmospheric pressure on Earth, which is three times higher than previous experiments, and provide a notable contribution to exoplanet research. A recent Princeton press release details the results of these experiments, which were published in Science Advances.