Detecting Volcanism on Extrasolar Planets
Authors: L. Kaltenegger, W. G. Henning, D. D. Sasselov
AI-generated Key Points
- Corot 7b is the first transiting rocky super-Earth with a surface temperature that allows for magma oceans
- Authors explore possibility of detecting rocky exoplanets with recent major volcanism through remote observation techniques
- They develop a model for volcanic eruptions on an Earth-like exoplanet based on present-day Earth and derive observable features in emergent and transmission spectra for various scenarios of gas distribution and cloud cover
- The authors calculate the observation time required to detect explosive volcanism on exoplanets during primary as well as secondary eclipse
- Sulfur dioxide from large explosive eruptions presents a spectral signal that is remotely detectable, especially for secondary eclipse measurements around the closest stars using ground-based telescopes
- Study demonstrates that transit probability decreases with distance to the host star making small close by host stars ideal targets for observing volcanic activity on exoplanets in their habitable zones.
Abstract: The search for extrasolar rocky planets has already found the first transiting rocky super-Earth, Corot 7b, with a surface temperature that allows for magma oceans. Here we ask if we could distinguish rocky planets with recent major volcanism by remote observation. We develop a model for volcanic eruptions on an Earth-like exoplanet based on the present day Earth, derive the observable features in emergent and transmission spectra for multiple scenarios of gas distribution and cloudcover. We calculate the observation time needed to detect explosive volcanism on exoplanets in primary as well as secondary eclipse and discuss the likelihood of observing volcanism on transiting Earth to super-Earth sized exoplanets. We find that sulfur dioxide from large explosive eruptions does present a spectral signal that is remotely detectable especially for secondary eclipse measurements around the closest stars using ground based telescopes, and report the frequency and magnitude of the expected signatures. Transit probability of planet in the habitable zone decreases with distance to the host star, making small, close by host stars the best targets
Tools for this paper
Ask questions about this paper to our AI assistant
You can also chat with multiple papers at once here.
⚠The license of the paper does not allow us to build upon its content and the AI assistant only knows about the paper metadata rather than the full article.
The previous summary was created more than a year ago and can be re-run (if necessary) by clicking on the Run button below.
⚠The license of this specific paper does not allow us to build upon its content and the summarizing tools will be run using the paper metadata rather than the full article. However, it still does a good job, and you can also try our tools on papers with more open licenses.
Similar papers summarized with our AI tools
Navigate through even more similar papers through a
tree representationLook for similar papers (in beta version)
We compare the title and abstract with papers indexed in our database. For arXiv papers, we search within the same category; for DOI and other sources, we search across sources and subjects. You can rerun the search as our database grows.
Disclaimer: The AI-based summarization tool and virtual assistant provided on this website may not always provide accurate and complete summaries or responses. We encourage you to carefully review and evaluate the generated content to ensure its quality and relevance to your needs.