1 2019-02-16

Exoplanets are bodies which revolve around other stars than the sun.They are extremely distant,faint and small.For now,no instrument has managed to detect an image of arocky exoplanet,as the challenge is considerable.A research team has proposed atechnique to digitally synthesise realistic topographies of rocky exoplanets to visualise these distant worlds and to prepare the analysis of future data.A statistical study of solar system bodies(the Earth,the Moon,Mercury and Mars)demonstrated that the topographies of rocky bodies share similar characteristics.The model,called“multifractal”,makes it possible to present the complexity of these bodies that are sometimes smooth and sometimes rough at all scales.This model is an extension of the well-known fractal model popularised by Benoît Mandelbrot.In astudy published in the journal,“Monthly Notice of Royal Astronomical Society”,the group of researchers were able to generate“multi-fractal”surfaces in spherical geometry for the first time.These include smooth and rough areas at all scales,as in real life.The tool is based on arandom seed and is capable of generating as many examples as required.These synthetic topographies will solve several enigmas about the exoplanets,but also about solar system bodies and primitive Earth. 查看详细>>

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