Descrizione del progetto
Quando le stelle colpiscono i loro prossimi
Gli esopianeti hanno una relazione complicata con le loro stelle ospiti. Gli strati superiori delle atmosfere degli esopianeti a distanze orbitali brevi dalle loro stelle sono soggetti a radiazioni energetiche intense e a potenti bombardamenti di particelle provenienti dalle stelle ospiti. Si ritiene che gli input energetici stellari possano condurre a una perdita di massa atmosferica attorno a questi esopianeti. Dal momento che la fuga atmosferica svolge un ruolo nell’evoluzione planetaria e nella possibilità di un esopianeta di ospitare la vita, la sua comprensione è fondamentale. Il progetto ASTROFLOW, finanziato dall’UE, sta sviluppando modelli sofisticati che integrano i flussi stellari in uscita e la fuga atmosferica del pianeta, per poi paragonare i risultati dei modelli ai dati osservazionali. Questi nuovi modelli forniranno contributi alle nostre valutazioni sui futuri esopianeti.
Obiettivo
ASTROFLOW aims to make ground-breaking progress in our physical understanding of exoplanetary mass loss, by quantifying the influence of stellar outflows on atmospheric escape of close-in exoplanets. Escape plays a key role in planetary evolution, population, and potential to develop life. Stellar irradiation and outflows affect planetary mass loss: irradiation heats planetary atmospheres, which inflate and more likely escape; outflows cause pressure confinement around otherwise freely escaping atmospheres. This external pressure can increase, reduce or even suppress escape rates; its effects on exoplanetary mass loss remain largely unexplored due to the complexity of such interactions. I will fill this knowledge gap by developing a novel modelling framework of atmospheric escape that will, for the first time, consider the effects of realistic stellar outflows on exoplanetary mass loss. My expertise in stellar wind theory and 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations is crucial for producing the next-generation models of planetary escape. My framework will consist of state-of-the-art, time-dependent, 3D simulations of stellar outflows (Method 1), which will be coupled to novel 3D simulations of atmospheric escape (Method 2). My models will account for the major underlying physical processes of mass loss. With this, I will determine the response of planetary mass loss to realistic stellar particle, magnetic and radiation environments and will characterise the physical conditions of the escaping material. I will compute how its extinction varies during transit and compare synthetic line profiles to atmospheric escape observations from, eg, Hubble and our NASA cubesat CUTE. Strong synergy with upcoming observations (JWST, TESS, SPIRou, CARMENES) also exists. Determining the lifetime of planetary atmospheres is essential to understanding populations of exoplanets. ASTROFLOW’s work will be the foundation for future research of how exoplanets evolve under mass-loss processes.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
2311 EZ Leiden
Paesi Bassi