Sensitivity of Dry Lava Planet Atmospheric Emission Spectra to Changes in Lava Compositions
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866916048935059456 |
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| author | van Buchem, Christiaan P. A. Buddhacharya, Rojita Zilinskas, Mantas Zieba, Sebastian Miguel, Yamila van Westrenen, Wim |
| author_facet | van Buchem, Christiaan P. A. Buddhacharya, Rojita Zilinskas, Mantas Zieba, Sebastian Miguel, Yamila van Westrenen, Wim |
| contents | The atmospheres of hot rocky exoplanets are among the first primary targets of the JWST. Interpreting their atmospheric spectra requires understanding the link between silicate lava compositions and overlying atmospheres. We investigate the sensitivity of simulated emission spectra of dry lava planets to variations in oxide abundances in silicate melt. Our goal is to determine which molten surface features could be distinguishable with future observations. We combine our vaporisation code with gas chemical equilibrium and radiative transfer codes to self-consistently compute atmospheric chemistry and thermal structure. Alongside varying lava compositions, we assess the impact of host star spectral type on emission spectra. TiO2 melt abundance dictates atmospheric TiO, which strongly influences surface temperature and emission spectra due to its short-wave opacity. This creates a degeneracy with heat redistribution efficiency, potentially broken by observing the optical TiO emission feature. Atmospheric SiO and SiO2 abundances depend on melt SiO2 content, with stronger SiO and SiO2 emission features at higher melt abundances. For the currently best observable HREs, changes in TiO2 and SiO2 abundance of about an order of magnitude with respect to BSE, could potentially be observable with 12 JWST eclipse observations. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_18301 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Sensitivity of Dry Lava Planet Atmospheric Emission Spectra to Changes in Lava Compositions van Buchem, Christiaan P. A. Buddhacharya, Rojita Zilinskas, Mantas Zieba, Sebastian Miguel, Yamila van Westrenen, Wim Earth and Planetary Astrophysics The atmospheres of hot rocky exoplanets are among the first primary targets of the JWST. Interpreting their atmospheric spectra requires understanding the link between silicate lava compositions and overlying atmospheres. We investigate the sensitivity of simulated emission spectra of dry lava planets to variations in oxide abundances in silicate melt. Our goal is to determine which molten surface features could be distinguishable with future observations. We combine our vaporisation code with gas chemical equilibrium and radiative transfer codes to self-consistently compute atmospheric chemistry and thermal structure. Alongside varying lava compositions, we assess the impact of host star spectral type on emission spectra. TiO2 melt abundance dictates atmospheric TiO, which strongly influences surface temperature and emission spectra due to its short-wave opacity. This creates a degeneracy with heat redistribution efficiency, potentially broken by observing the optical TiO emission feature. Atmospheric SiO and SiO2 abundances depend on melt SiO2 content, with stronger SiO and SiO2 emission features at higher melt abundances. For the currently best observable HREs, changes in TiO2 and SiO2 abundance of about an order of magnitude with respect to BSE, could potentially be observable with 12 JWST eclipse observations. |
| title | Sensitivity of Dry Lava Planet Atmospheric Emission Spectra to Changes in Lava Compositions |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18301 |