ON THE STABILITY OF SUPER-EARTH ATMOSPHERES

Heng, Kevin; Kopparla, Pushkar (2012). ON THE STABILITY OF SUPER-EARTH ATMOSPHERES. Astrophysical journal, 754(1), p. 60. Institute of Physics Publishing IOP 10.1088/0004-637X/754/1/60

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We investigate the stability of super-Earth atmospheres around M stars using a seven-parameter, analytical framework. We construct stability diagrams in the parameter space of exoplanetary radius versus semimajor axis and elucidate the regions in which the atmospheres are stable against the condensation of their major constituents, out of the gas phase, on their permanent nightside hemispheres. We find that super-Earth atmospheres that are nitrogen-dominated (Earth-like) occupy a smaller region of allowed parameter space, compared to hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, because of the dual effects of diminished advection and enhanced radiative cooling. Furthermore, some super-Earths which reside within the habitable zones of M stars may not possess stable atmospheres, depending on the mean molecular weight and infrared photospheric pressure of their atmospheres. We apply our stability diagrams to GJ 436b and GJ 1214b, and demonstrate that atmospheric compositions with high mean molecular weights are disfavored if these exoplanets possess solid surfaces and shallow atmospheres. Finally, we construct stability diagrams tailored to the Kepler data set, for G and K stars, and predict that about half of the exoplanet candidates are expected to harbor stable atmospheres if Earth-like conditions are assumed. We include 55 Cancri e and CoRoT-7b in our stability diagram for G stars

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)

UniBE Contributor:

Heng, Kevin

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0004-637X

Publisher:

Institute of Physics Publishing IOP

Language:

English

Submitter:

Danielle Zemp

Date Deposited:

14 Oct 2014 14:46

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:37

Publisher DOI:

10.1088/0004-637X/754/1/60

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.59309

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/59309

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