Prospects for Characterizing the Atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b

Abstract

The newly detected Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could potentially host life - if it has an atmosphere that supports surface liquid water. We show that thermal phase curve observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) from 5-12 microns can be used to test the existence of such an atmosphere. We predict the thermal variation for a bare rock versus a planet with 35% heat redistribution to the nightside and show that a JWST phase curve measurement can distinguish between these cases at $4\sigma$ confidence, assuming photon-limited precision. We also consider the case of an Earth-like atmosphere, and find that the ozone 9.8 micron band could be detected with longer integration times (a few months). We conclude that JWST observations have the potential to put the first constraints on the possibility of life around the nearest star to the Solar System.

accepted to ApJL

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Cited by in corpus (27)

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• Is Proxima Centauri b habitable? -- A study of atmospheric loss
• The Space Weather of Proxima Centauri b
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• A temperate exo-Earth around a quiet M dwarf at 3.4 parsecs
• The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope IV. Capabilities and predicted performance for exoplanet characterization
• The atmospheric circulation and climate of terrestrial planets orbiting Sun-like and M-dwarf stars over a broad range of planetary parameters
• A Statistical Comparative Planetology Approach to the Hunt for Habitable Exoplanets and Life Beyond the Solar System
• Atmospheric Escape From TOI-700 d: Venus versus Earth Analogs
• Stratosphere circulation on tidally locked ExoEarths
• The Pale Green Dot: A Method to Characterize Proxima Centauri b using Exo-Aurorae
• Validation of 13 Hot and Potentially Terrestrial TESS Planets
• A New Method for Finding Nearby White Dwarf Exoplanets and Detecting Biosignatures
• A mirage of the cosmic shoreline: Venus-like clouds as a statistical false positive for exoplanet atmospheric erosion
• Detecting Proxima b's atmosphere with JWST targeting CO2 at 15 micron using a high-pass spectral filtering technique
• Probing the capability of future direct imaging missions to spectrally constrain the frequency of Earth-like planets
• Electromagnetic forces on a relativistic spacecraft in the interstellar medium
• The Detectability of Radio Auroral Emission from Proxima B
• The Effect of Land Fraction and Host Star Spectral Energy Distribution on the Planetary Albedo of Terrestrial Worlds
• On the Orbital Inclination of Proxima Centauri b
• 3-D climate simulations for the detectability of Proxima Centauri b
• Searching for the Transit of the Earth--mass exoplanet Proxima~Centauri~b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result
• MIRECLE: Science Yield for a Mid-IR Explorer-Class Mission to Study Non-Transiting Rocky Planets Orbiting the Nearest M-Stars Using Planetary Infrared Excess
• Photogravimagnetic assists of light sails: a mixed blessing for Breakthrough Starshot?
• Detecting Atmospheric Molecules of Temperate Terrestrial Exoplanets using High-Resolution Spectroscopy in the Mid Infrared Domain