TRAPPIST 1-e Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Astrobiology

Combined transmission spectrum LHS1140b obtained with NIRISS SOSS on December 1st and 26th 2023 overlaid with HST observations (solid grey points; Edwards et al. 2021). The orange 2-envelope is the best TLS model dominated by facula. The dashed line is the predicted GCM model of the mini-Neptune scenario of Cadieux et al. (2024); this model is excluded at more than 5  (Cadieux et al., in prep). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Do Temperate Rocky Planets Around M Dwarfs have an Atmosphere?

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2024

Detecting an atmosphere on nearby temperate planets is one of the most important scientific objectives of the Webb mission, an endeavour in practice limited to a handful of well-characterized planets: […]

Contour plot of surface temperature of the simulations, overlapping with arrows indicating the direction and magnitude of the surface wind.. a, b and c show the noAER simulations with pCO2 = 100, 3,000 and 20,000 Pa (pCH4 fixed at 0 Pa). d, e and f show the noAER simulations with CH4/CO2 = 0.02, 0.04 and 0.1 (pCO2 fixed at 20,000 Pa). g, h and i show the AER simulations with CH4/CO2 = 0.1, 0.125 and 0.175 (pCO2 fixed at 3,000 Pa). The liquid-water region, defined as the area with the surface temperature larger than 273 K and can maintain liquid water on the surface, is denoted with a white line. The wind structure of each simulation is also denoted, with the single jet structure denoted as "SJ" and the double jet structure denoted as "DJ". -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

3D Simulations Of TRAPPIST-1e With Varying CO2, CH4 And Haze Profiles

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2024March 12, 2024

Using a 3D General Circulation Model, the Unified Model, we present results from simulations of a tidally-locked TRAPPIST-1e with varying carbon dioxide CO2 and methane CH4 gas concentrations, and their […]

Equatorial slices showing the solar/stellar wind solution for Trappist-1e (left column) and for solar Carrington Rotation 1916 (right column). Color contours are of magnetic field strength (top) and number density (bottom). Also shown is the orbit of Trappist-1e at 0.028 au and the hypothetical orbits at 0.05 and 0.1 au as solid black circles. Selected magnetic field lines are shown in gray. -- The Astrophysical Journal

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Heating of the Atmospheres of Short-orbit Exoplanets by Their Rapid Orbital Motion through an Extreme Space Environment

by Keith CowingFebruary 22, 2024February 22, 2024

Exoplanets with short orbit periods reside very close to their host stars. They transition very rapidly between different sectors of the circumstellar space environment along their orbit, leading to large […]

Internal ocean probabilities of the investigated exoplanets. The colour bar depicts the probability of each planet having a liquid water reservoir in its interior. Red colours imply a high probability, while planets with dark blue circles are less likely to have internal oceans. The HZ, shown as a green band only for illustrative purposes, was calculated based on stellar parameters from theoretical stellar evolution models. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Proxima Centauri, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Content Of Rocky Exoplanets In The Habitable Zone

by Keith CowingDecember 4, 2023December 4, 2023

In this study we investigated the interiors of rocky exoplanets in order to identify those that may have large quantities of water.

Comparison of the transmission spectrum (at 1 cm−1 resolution, R = 10,000 at 1 μm) for TRAPPIST-1 e with the temperature and gas abundance profiles of the true Earth (cloudy Earth orbiting a G dwarf; cyan line), which is not photochemically self-consistent with the spectrum of TRAPPIST-1, vs. the cloudy preindustrial Earth case, which is photochemically self-consistent with the spectrum of TRAPPIST-1 and has similar clouds (dark-blue line). For the same surface flux, the self-consistent preindustrial Earth produces much stronger CH4 features owing to higher atmospheric abundances under favorable chemistry driven by the TRAPPIST-1 stellar spectrum. The CO2 features for our self-consistent Earth are larger only as a result of requiring a higher abundance to remain temperate. -- Planetary Science Journal

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Searching For Biosignature Gases With The James Webb Space Telescope

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2023December 2, 2023

NASA-supported researchers have assessed the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for gases in planetary atmospheres that could be signs of life.

Traveling

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Proxima Centauri, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Traveling Planetary-scale Waves Cause Cloud Variability On Tidally Locked Aquaplanets

by Keith CowingNovember 23, 2022November 23, 2022

Cloud cover at the planetary limb of water-rich Earth-like planets is likely to weaken chemical signatures in transmission spectra, impeding attempts to characterize these atmospheres.