Planetary Interiors

When a young world is hot enough to melt, denser materials sink to the centre and lighter ones float up — forming distinct core, mantle, and crust layers.

Iron and nickel concentrate in the core. Silicates (rock) dominate the mantle. The crust is what cooled and solidified first — often enriched in lighter elements like Si, Al, K.

Whether a planet keeps an active dynamo depends on the core staying partially liquid and convecting — Earth does, Mars used to but cooled out, Venus has a liquid core but no convection.

In Elite Dangerous, the surface scanner highlights geological signal sources — fumaroles, ice geysers, and lava spouts. They form on bodies with active or recently-active interiors.

Tidally-heated moons around gas giants — analogues of Io and Europa — are prime candidates for biological signals (bacteria), while volcanic hot rocky bodies host raw-material harvest sites.

The Vista Genomics organic samples cluster on bodies with appropriate interior heat — too cold and there's nothing; too hot and the surface is hostile.