Planetary Climate Dynamics

Abstract:

Recent James Webb Space Telescope observations of cool, rocky exoplanets reveal a probable lack of thick atmospheres, suggesting the prevalent escape of the “secondary” atmospheres formed after losing primordial hydrogen. Yet, simulations indicate that the hydrodynamic escape of secondary atmospheres, composed of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, requires intense fluxes of ionizing radiation (X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (XUV)) to overcome the effects of high molecular weight and efficient line cooling. This transonic outflow of hot, ionized metals (not hydrogen) presents a novel astrophysical regime ripe for exploration. We introduce an analytic framework to determine which planets retain or lose their atmospheres, positioning them on either side of the cosmic shoreline. We model the radial structure of escaping atmospheres as polytropic expansions—power-law relationships between density and temperature driven by local XUV heating. Our approach diagnoses line cooling with a three-level atom model and incorporates how ion–electron interactions reduce the mean molecular weight. Crucially, hydrodynamic escape onsets for a threshold XUV flux depend upon the atmosphere’s gravitational binding. The ensuing escape rates either scale linearly with XUV flux when weakly ionized (energy limited) or are controlled by a collisional–radiative thermostat when strongly ionized. Thus, airlessness is determined by whether the XUV flux surpasses the critical threshold during the star’s active periods, accounting for expendable primordial hydrogen and revival by volcanism. We explore atmospheric escape from the young Sun Mars and Earth, LHS 1140 b and c, and TRAPPIST-1 b. Our modeling characterizes the bottleneck of atmospheric loss on the occurrence of observable Earth-like habitats and offers analytic tools for future studies.

Abstract:

Abstract:

We present a new analysis of the spectroscopic variability of WISE J104915.57−531906.1AB (WISE 1049AB, L7.5+T0.5), observed using the NIRSpec instrument on board the James Webb Space Telescope (GO 2965; PI: Biller). We explore the variability of the dominant molecular bands present in their 0.6–5.3 μm spectra (H2O, CH4, and CO), finding that the B component exhibits a higher maximum deviation than the A component in all the wavelength ranges tested. The light curves reveal wavelength-dependent (atmospheric depth) and possibly chemistry-dependent variability. In particular, for the A component, the variability in the light curves at the wavelengths traced by the CH4 and CO molecular absorption features is higher than that for of H2O, even when both trace similar pressure levels. We conclude that clouds alone are unlikely to explain the increased variability of CO and CH4 with respect to H2O, suggesting that an additional physical mechanism is needed to explain the observed variability. This mechanism is probably due to thermochemical instabilities. Finally, we provide visual representations of the 3D atmospheric maps reconstructed for both components using the molecular band contributions at different pressure levels and the fits of planetary-scale waves.

Abstract:

Vertical mixing disrupts the thermochemical equilibrium and introduces additional heat flux that alters exoplanetary atmospheric temperatures. We investigate how this mixing-induced heat flux affects atmospheric chemistry. Temperature increase in the lower atmosphere by the mixing-induced heat flux alters species abundances there and modifies those in the upper atmosphere through vertical transport. In the lower atmosphere, most species follow thermodynamic equilibrium with temperature changes. In the upper layers, species mixing ratios depend on the positions of quenching levels relative to the regions exhibiting significant mixing-induced temperature variations. When the quenching level resides within such a region (e.g., CO, CH4, and H2O with strong mixing), the mixing ratios in the upper atmosphere are modified due to changes in the quenched ratios affected by the temperature variation in the lower atmosphere. This alters the mixing ratio of other species (e.g., NO and CO2) through the chemical reaction network, whose quenching occurs in the region without much temperature change. The mixing ratios of CH4, H2O, and NH3 decrease in the lower atmosphere with increasing mixing heat flux, similarly reducing these ratios in the upper atmosphere. Conversely, the mixing ratios of CO, CO2, and NO rise in the lower atmosphere, with CO and CO2 also increasing in the upper levels, although NO decreases. Weaker host star irradiation lowers the overall temperature of the planet, allowing a smaller mixing to have a similar effect. We conclude that understanding the vertical mixing heat flux is essential for accurate atmospheric chemistry modeling and retrieval.