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Effect of UV radiation on the spectral fingerprints of Earth-like planets orbiting M stars
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dc.contributor.author | Rugheimer, S. | |
dc.contributor.author | Kaltenegger, L. | |
dc.contributor.author | Segura, A. | |
dc.contributor.author | Linsky, J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Mohanty, S. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2016-10-04T11:30:17Z | |
dc.date.available | 2016-10-04T11:30:17Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2015-08-10 | |
dc.identifier | 246493034 | |
dc.identifier | ad3c3c4b-1f63-4901-80d2-29fc8f2dc03a | |
dc.identifier | 84945315052 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Rugheimer , S , Kaltenegger , L , Segura , A , Linsky , J & Mohanty , S 2015 , ' Effect of UV radiation on the spectral fingerprints of Earth-like planets orbiting M stars ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 809 , no. 1 . https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/57 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 0004-637X | |
dc.identifier.other | ORCID: /0000-0003-1620-7658/work/27164116 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10023/9604 | |
dc.description | The authors acknowledge support from DFG funding ENP KA 3142/1-1 and the Simons Foundation (290357, Kaltenegger). | en |
dc.description.abstract | We model the atmospheres and spectra of Earth-like planets orbiting the entire grid of M dwarfs for active and inactive stellar models with Teff = 2300 K to Teff = 3800 K and for six observed MUSCLES M dwarfs with UV radiation data. We set the Earth-like planets at the 1 AU equivalent distance and show spectra from the visible to IR (0.4-20 μm) to compare detectability of features in different wavelength ranges with the James Webb Space Telescope and other future ground- and spaced-based missions to characterize exo-Earths. We focus on the effect of UV activity levels on detectable atmospheric features that indicate habitability on Earth, namely, H2O, O3, CH4, N2O, and CH3Cl. To observe signatures of life - O2/O3 in combination with reducing species like CH4 - we find that early and active M dwarfs are the best targets of the M star grid for future telescopes. The O2 spectral feature at 0.76 μm is increasingly difficult to detect in reflected light of later M dwarfs owing to low stellar flux in that wavelength region. N2O, another biosignature detectable in the IR, builds up to observable concentrations in our planetary models around M dwarfs with low UV flux. CH3Cl could become detectable, depending on the depth of the overlapping N2O feature. We present a spectral database of Earth-like planets around cool stars for directly imaged planets as a framework for interpreting future light curves, direct imaging, and secondary eclipse measurements of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone to design and assess future telescope capabilities. | |
dc.format.extent | 17557305 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Astrophysical Journal | en |
dc.subject | Astrobiology | en |
dc.subject | Planets and satellites: atmospheres | en |
dc.subject | Planets and satellites: terrestrial planets | en |
dc.subject | Stars: low-mass | en |
dc.subject | QB Astronomy | en |
dc.subject | Nuclear and High Energy Physics | en |
dc.subject | 3rd-DAS | en |
dc.subject.lcc | QB | en |
dc.title | Effect of UV radiation on the spectral fingerprints of Earth-like planets orbiting M stars | en |
dc.type | Journal article | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. Earth and Environmental Sciences | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/57 | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
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