Signatures of X-ray dominated chemistry in the spectra of exoplanetary atmospheres
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866917584250601472 |
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| author | Locci, Daniele Aresu, Giambattista Petralia, Antonino Micela, Giuseppina Maggio, Antonio Cecchi-Pestellini, Cesare |
| author_facet | Locci, Daniele Aresu, Giambattista Petralia, Antonino Micela, Giuseppina Maggio, Antonio Cecchi-Pestellini, Cesare |
| contents | High-energy radiation from stars impacts planetary atmospheres deeply affecting their chemistry, providing departures from chemical equilibrium. While the upper atmospheric layers are dominated by ionizations induced by extreme ultraviolet radiation, deeper into the atmosphere molecular abundances are controlled by a characteristic X-ray dominated chemistry, mainly driven by an energetic secondary electron cascade. In this work, we aim at identifying molecular photochemically induced fingerprints in the transmission spectra of a giant planet atmosphere. We have developed a numerical code capable of synthesizing transmission spectra with arbitrary spectral resolution, exploiting updated infrared photoabsorption cross sections. Chemical mixing ratios are computed using a photochemical model, tailored to investigate high energy ionization processes. We find that in case of high levels of stellar activity, synthetic spectra in both low and high resolutions show significant, potentially observable out-of-equilibrium signatures arising mainly from CO, CH$_4$, C$_2$H$_2$, and HCN. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_04688 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Signatures of X-ray dominated chemistry in the spectra of exoplanetary atmospheres Locci, Daniele Aresu, Giambattista Petralia, Antonino Micela, Giuseppina Maggio, Antonio Cecchi-Pestellini, Cesare Earth and Planetary Astrophysics High-energy radiation from stars impacts planetary atmospheres deeply affecting their chemistry, providing departures from chemical equilibrium. While the upper atmospheric layers are dominated by ionizations induced by extreme ultraviolet radiation, deeper into the atmosphere molecular abundances are controlled by a characteristic X-ray dominated chemistry, mainly driven by an energetic secondary electron cascade. In this work, we aim at identifying molecular photochemically induced fingerprints in the transmission spectra of a giant planet atmosphere. We have developed a numerical code capable of synthesizing transmission spectra with arbitrary spectral resolution, exploiting updated infrared photoabsorption cross sections. Chemical mixing ratios are computed using a photochemical model, tailored to investigate high energy ionization processes. We find that in case of high levels of stellar activity, synthetic spectra in both low and high resolutions show significant, potentially observable out-of-equilibrium signatures arising mainly from CO, CH$_4$, C$_2$H$_2$, and HCN. |
| title | Signatures of X-ray dominated chemistry in the spectra of exoplanetary atmospheres |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.04688 |