Lasers squeezed iron to mimic the conditions of exoplanet cores

The experiment offers a hint of how the material behaves deep inside faraway worlds

laser and exoplanet

UNDER PRESSURE  Using lasers, scientists compressed iron to high pressures that are likely found in large, rocky exoplanets’ cores. Here, an image of inside the laser chamber is shown with an artist’s rendering of an exoplanet.

Mark Meamber/NIF

Physicists have simulated the cores of some large rocky exoplanets by pummeling iron with lasers.