Stellar energetic particle and cosmic ray effects in exoplanetary atmospheres
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...
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Main Author | |
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Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
11.09.2024
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | 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. |
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DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.2409.07274 |