Stellar Flares versus Luminosity: XUV-induced Atmospheric Escape and Planetary Habitability
arXiv:2009.04310 · doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slaa166
Abstract
Space weather plays an important role in the evolution of planetary atmospheres. Observations have shown that stellar flares emit energy in a wide energy range (10^30-10^38 ergs), a fraction of which lies in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (XUV). These flares heat the upper atmosphere of a planet, leading to increased escape rates, and can result in atmospheric erosion over a period of time. Observations also suggest that primordial terrestrial planets can accrete voluminous H/He envelopes. Stellar radiation can erode these protoatmospheres over time, and the extent of this erosion has implications for the planet's habitability. We use the energy-limited equation to calculate hydrodynamic escape rates from these protoatmospheres irradiated by XUV stellar flares and luminosity. We use the Flare-Frequency Distribution of 492 FGKM stars observed with TESS to estimate atmospheric loss in Habitable Zone planets. We find that for most stars, luminosity-induced escape is the main loss mechanism, with a minor contribution from flares. However, flares dominate the loss mechanism of 20\% M4-M10 stars. M0-M4 stars are most likely to completely erode both their proto- and secondary atmospheres, and M4-M10 are least likely to erode secondary atmospheres. We discuss the implications of these results on planetary habitability.
arXiv commentAccepted in MNRAS Letters
References in corpus (22)
- Intrinsic Colors, Temperatures, and Bolometric Corrections of Pre-Main Sequence Stars
- Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: New Estimates
- Atmospheric Escape from Hot Jupiters
- Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: Dependence on Planetary Mass
- Roche lobe effects on the atmospheric loss of "Hot Jupiters"
- Stellar Flares from the First Tess Data Release: Exploring a New Sample of M-dwarfs
- Modeling Repeated M-dwarf Flaring at an Earth-like Planet in the Habitable Zone: I. Atmospheric Effects for an Unmagnetized Planet
- Kepler Planet Occurrence Rates for Mid-Type M Dwarfs as a Function of Spectral Type
- Habitable Evaporated Cores: Transforming Mini-Neptunes into Super-Earths in the Habitable Zones of M Dwarfs
- Do Kepler superflare stars really include slowly-rotating Sun-like stars ? - Results using APO 3.5m telescope spectroscopic observations and Gaia-DR2 data -
- Origin and Loss of nebula-captured hydrogen envelopes from "sub"- to "super-Earths" in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars
- Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1
- Atmospheric Escape Processes and Planetary Atmospheric Evolution
- Overcoming the limitations of the energy-limited approximation for planet atmospheric escape
- Heating efficiency in hydrogen-dominated upper atmospheres
- BOSS Ultracool Dwarfs I: Colors and Magnetic Activity of M and L dwarfs
- Habitability of Terrestrial-Mass Planets in the HZ of M Dwarfs. I. H/He-Dominated Atmospheres
- Thermal mass loss of protoplanetary cores with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres: The influences of ionization and orbital distance
- Extreme hydrodynamic losses of Earth-like atmospheres in the habitable zones of very active stars
- Modeling Stellar Proton Event-induced particle radiation dose on close-in exoplanets
- Atmospheric mass loss from hot Jupiters irradiated by stellar superflares
- Stellar Proton Event-induced surface radiation dose as a constraint on the habitability of terrestrial exoplanets
Cited by in corpus (11)
- Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): I. Improved exoplanet detection yield estimates for a large mid-infrared space-interferometer mission
- X-ray Super-Flares From Pre-Main Sequence Stars: Flare Energetics And Frequency
- A 1.55 R habitable-zone planet hosted by TOI-715, an M4 star near the ecliptic South Pole
- Activity of TRAPPIST-1 analogue stars observed with TESS
- Possibilities for an Aerial Biosphere in Temperate Sub Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Atmospheres
- Magnetic activities and parameters of 43 flare stars in the GWAC archive
- The Hubble PanCET program: Long-term chromospheric evolution and flaring activity of the M dwarf host GJ 3470
- A Study of the Magnetic Activity and Variability of GJ 436
- The white-light superflares from cool stars in GWAC triggers
- The impact of water clouds on the prospective emission spectrum of Teegarden's Star b as observed by LIFE
- Why M-dwarf flares have limited impact on the atmospheric evaporation of sub-Neptunes and Earth-sized planets