XUV-driven mass loss from extrasolar giant planets orbiting active stars
File(s)Icarus_250_2015.pdf (883 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Chadney
Galand, M
Unruh, YC
Koskinen, TT
Sanz-Forcada, J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Upper atmospheres of Hot Jupiters are subject to extreme radiation conditions that can result in rapid atmospheric escape. The composition and structure of the upper atmospheres of these planets are affected by the high-energy spectrum of the host star. This emission depends on stellar type and age, which are thus important factors in understanding the behaviour of exoplanetary atmospheres. In this study, we focus on Extrasolar Giant Planets (EPGs) orbiting K and M dwarf stars. XUV spectra for three different stars – ∊ Eridani, AD Leonis and AU Microscopii – are constructed using a coronal model. Neutral density and temperature profiles in the upper atmosphere of hypothetical EGPs orbiting these stars are then obtained from a fluid model, incorporating atmospheric chemistry and taking atmospheric escape into account. We find that a simple scaling based solely on the host star’s X-ray emission gives large errors in mass loss rates from planetary atmospheres and so we have derived a new method to scale the EUV regions of the solar spectrum based upon stellar X-ray emission. This new method produces an outcome in terms of the planet’s neutral upper atmosphere very similar to that obtained using a detailed coronal model of the host star. Our results indicate that in planets subjected to radiation from active stars, the transition from Jeans escape to a regime of hydrodynamic escape at the top of the atmosphere occurs at larger orbital distances than for planets around low activity stars (such as the Sun).
Date Issued
2015-04-01
Date Acceptance
2014-12-07
Citation
Icarus, 2015, 250 (1), pp.357-367
ISSN
1090-2643
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
357
End Page
367
Journal / Book Title
Icarus
Volume
250
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© the Authors 2015. This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
You may distribute and copy the article, create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation), to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), to text or data mine the article, including for commercial purposes without permission from Elsevier. The original work must always be appropriately credited.
You may distribute and copy the article, create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation), to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), to text or data mine the article, including for commercial purposes without permission from Elsevier. The original work must always be appropriately credited.
License URL
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council [2006-2012]
Identifier
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103514006927#
Grant Number
ST/J500616/1
ST/K001051/1
ST/K001051/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Aeronomy
Extra-solar planets
Photochemistry
Solar radiation
HABITABLE ZONES
HEAVY-ATOMS
COOL STARS
HD 189733B
ATMOSPHERE
EMISSION
IONOSPHERE
ESCAPE
EVOLUTION
ROTATION
astro-ph.SR
astro-ph.SR
astro-ph.EP
Astronomy & Astrophysics
0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
0402 Geochemistry
0404 Geophysics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2014-12-19