Stellar energetic particle and cosmic ray effects in exoplanetary atmospheres

Fuente: arXiv
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Autor principal: Rodgers-Lee, D.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Rodgers-Lee, D.
author_facet Rodgers-Lee, D.
contents Energetic particles, in the form of stellar energetic particles and cosmic rays, can lead to disequilibrium chemical effects in exoplanetary atmospheres. In Earth-like atmospheres, energetic particles can drive the formation of prebiotic molecules, the building blocks of life. Here instead, I study the transport of energetic particles through a hydrogen-dominated exoplanet atmosphere and calculate the resulting ionisation rate of molecular hydrogen using a Monte Carlo energetic particle transport model. I focus on a GJ436 b-like atmosphere at orbital distances between 0.01-0.2 au which includes the orbital distance of the exoplanet GJ436 b (0.028 au). I found that stellar energetic particles lead to high ionisation rates in a GJ436 b-like atmosphere between 0.01-0.2 au. These results motivate the use of chemical models of gas giant atmospheres including energetic particle ionisation to ultimately produce synthetic James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Ariel transmission spectra in the future.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_07274
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Stellar energetic particle and cosmic ray effects in exoplanetary atmospheres
Rodgers-Lee, D.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Energetic particles, in the form of stellar energetic particles and cosmic rays, can lead to disequilibrium chemical effects in exoplanetary atmospheres. In Earth-like atmospheres, energetic particles can drive the formation of prebiotic molecules, the building blocks of life. Here instead, I study the transport of energetic particles through a hydrogen-dominated exoplanet atmosphere and calculate the resulting ionisation rate of molecular hydrogen using a Monte Carlo energetic particle transport model. I focus on a GJ436 b-like atmosphere at orbital distances between 0.01-0.2 au which includes the orbital distance of the exoplanet GJ436 b (0.028 au). I found that stellar energetic particles lead to high ionisation rates in a GJ436 b-like atmosphere between 0.01-0.2 au. These results motivate the use of chemical models of gas giant atmospheres including energetic particle ionisation to ultimately produce synthetic James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Ariel transmission spectra in the future.
title Stellar energetic particle and cosmic ray effects in exoplanetary atmospheres
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.07274