UV Surface Environments and Atmospheres of Earth-like Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs

Abstract

An Earth-like exoplanet orbiting a white dwarf would be exposed to different UV environments than Earth, influencing both its atmospheric photochemistry and UV surface environment. Using a coupled 1D climate-photochemistry code we model atmospheres of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of white dwarfs for surface temperatures between 6000 K and 4000 K, corresponding to about 7 billion years of white dwarf evolution, as well as discuss the evolution of planetary models in the habitable zone during that evolution.

arXiv commentAccepted by ApJ, 23 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables

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• Habitability and Spectroscopic Observability of Warm M-dwarf Exoplanets Evaluated with a 3D Chemistry-Climate Model
• Planetary Systems Around White Dwarfs
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