Helium in Exoplanet Exospheres: Orbital and Stellar Influences

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Hauptverfasser: Krishnamurthy, Vigneshwaran, Cowan, Nicolas B.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Krishnamurthy, Vigneshwaran
Cowan, Nicolas B.
author_facet Krishnamurthy, Vigneshwaran
Cowan, Nicolas B.
contents Searches for helium in the exospheres of exoplanets via the metastable near-infrared triplet have yielded 17 detections and 40 non-detections. We performed a comprehensive re-analysis of published studies to investigate the influence of stellar XUV flux and orbital parameters on the detectability of helium in exoplanetary atmospheres. We identified a distinct 'orbital sweet spot' for helium detection, 0.03 to 0.08 AU from the host star, where the majority of detections occurred. This sweet spot is influenced by the stellar XUV flux and planet size. Notably, a lower ratio of XUV flux to mid-UV flux is preferred for planets compared to non-detections. We also found that helium detections occur for planets around stars with effective temperatures of 4400-6500 K, with a sharp gap at 5400 to 6000 K, where no detections occur. Additionally, our analysis of the cumulative XUV flux versus escape velocity shows planets with helium detections are found above the 'cosmic shoreline', suggesting the shoreline needs revision. The trends we found in our analysis contribute to a deeper understanding of exosphere evolution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_15575
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Helium in Exoplanet Exospheres: Orbital and Stellar Influences
Krishnamurthy, Vigneshwaran
Cowan, Nicolas B.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Searches for helium in the exospheres of exoplanets via the metastable near-infrared triplet have yielded 17 detections and 40 non-detections. We performed a comprehensive re-analysis of published studies to investigate the influence of stellar XUV flux and orbital parameters on the detectability of helium in exoplanetary atmospheres. We identified a distinct 'orbital sweet spot' for helium detection, 0.03 to 0.08 AU from the host star, where the majority of detections occurred. This sweet spot is influenced by the stellar XUV flux and planet size. Notably, a lower ratio of XUV flux to mid-UV flux is preferred for planets compared to non-detections. We also found that helium detections occur for planets around stars with effective temperatures of 4400-6500 K, with a sharp gap at 5400 to 6000 K, where no detections occur. Additionally, our analysis of the cumulative XUV flux versus escape velocity shows planets with helium detections are found above the 'cosmic shoreline', suggesting the shoreline needs revision. The trends we found in our analysis contribute to a deeper understanding of exosphere evolution.
title Helium in Exoplanet Exospheres: Orbital and Stellar Influences
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15575