Atmospheres and UV Environments of Earth-like Planets Throughout Post-Main Sequence Evolution

Abstract

During the post-main sequence phase of stellar evolution the orbital distance of the habitable zone, which allows for liquid surface water on terrestrial planets, moves out past the system's original frost line, providing an opportunity for outer planetary system surface habitability. We use a 1D coupled climate/photochemistry code to study the impact of the stellar environment on the planetary atmospheres of Earth-like planets/moons throughout its time in the post-main sequence habitable zone. We also explore the ground UV environments of such planets/moons and compare them to Earth's. We model the evolution of star-planet systems with host stars ranging from 1.0 to 3.5 M${}_{\odot }$ throughout the post-main sequence, calculating stellar mass loss and its effects on planetary orbital evolution and atmospheric erosion. The maximum amount of time a rocky planet can spend continuously in the evolving post-MS habitable zone ranges between 56 and 257 Myr for our grid stars. Thus, during the post-MS evolution of their host star, subsurface life on cold planets and moons could become remotely detectable once the initially frozen surface melts. Frozen planets or moons, like Europa in our Solar System, experience a relatively stable environment on the horizontal branch of their host stars' evolution for millions of years.

arXiv comment23 pages, 7 figures, 10 tables

References in corpus (31)

• The Gaia mission
• Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: New Estimates
• Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: Dependence on Planetary Mass
• Biosignatures from Earth-Like Planets Around M Dwarfs
• Scaled solar tracks and isochrones in a large region of the Z-Y plane I. From the ZAMS to the TP-AGB end for 0.15 - 2.5 Mo stars
• How to Characterize Habitable Worlds and Signs of Life
• 3D climate modeling of close-in land planets: Circulation patterns, climate moist bistability and habitability
• Scaled solar tracks and isochrones in a large region of the Z-Y plane. II. From 2.5 to 20 solar masses
• Effect of UV Radiation on the Spectral Fingerprints of Earth-like Planets Orbiting M dwarfs
• Abiotic formation of O2 and O3 in high-CO2 terrestrial atmospheres
• The Habitable Zones of Pre-Main-Sequence Stars
• Spectral Fingerprints of Earth-like Planets Around FGK Stars
• UV Surface Environment of Earth-like Planets Orbiting FGKM Stars Through Geological Evolution
• A Volcanic Hydrogen Habitable Zone
• Habitable Planets Around White and Brown Dwarfs: The Perils of a Cooling Primary
• The properties of planets around giant stars
• Direct detection of exoplanets in the 3 -- 10 micron range with E-ELT/METIS
• Calculating the Habitable Zone of Binary Star Systems I: S-Type Binaries
• UV Surface Habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 System
• Characterizing Habitable Exo-Moons
• A more comprehensive habitable zone for finding life on other planets
• Spectra of Earth-like Planets Through Geological Evolution Around FGKM Stars
• On the Habitable Zones of Circumbinary Planetary Systems
• Abundances in the Local Region I: G and K Giants
• 3D Modelling of the climatic impact of outflow channel formation events on Early Mars
• Habitable Zones of Post-Main Sequence Stars
• A Methane Extension to the Classical Habitable Zone
• Effect of Metallicity on the Evolution of the Habitable Zone from the Pre-Main Sequence to the Asymptotic Giant Branch and the Search for Life
• Can Life develop in the expanded habitable zones around Red Giant Stars?
• Precise radial velocities of giant stars. X. Bayesian stellar parameters and evolutionary stages for 372 giant stars from the Lick planet search
• UV Surface Environments and Atmospheres of Earth-like Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Is ozone a reliable proxy for molecular oxygen? I. The O2-O3 relationship for Earth-like atmospheres
• Expanding the Timeline for Earth's Photosynthetic Red Edge Biosignature
• Past, Present and Future Stars that can see Earth as a Transiting Exoplanet
• H${}_2$-dominated Atmosphere as an Indicator of Second-generation Rocky White Dwarf Exoplanets
• The grain size survival threshold in one-planet post-main-sequence exoplanetary systems
• Which Stars can see Earth as a Transiting Exoplanet?
• Planetary magnetosphere evolution around post-main-sequence stars
• High resolution Spectra of Earth-Like Planets Orbiting Red Giant Host Stars
• The Color of Habitability