10
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Modeling Stellar Proton Event-induced particle radiation dose on close-in exoplanets

      Preprint

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Kepler observations have uncovered the existence of a large number of close-in exoplanets and serendipitously of stellar superflares with emissions several orders of magnitude higher than those observed on the Sun. The interaction between the two and its implications on planetary habitability is of great interest to the community. Stellar Proton Events interact with planetary atmospheres, generate secondary particles and increase the radiation dose on the surface. This effect is amplified for close-in exoplanets and can be a serious threat to potential planetary life. Monte Carlo simulations are used to model the SPE-induced particle radiation dose on the surface of such exoplanets. The results show a wide range of surface radiation doses on planets in close-in configurations with varying atmospheric column depths, magnetic moments and orbital radii. It can be concluded that for close-in exoplanets with sizable atmospheres and magnetospheres, the radiation dose contributed by stellar superflares may not be high enough to sterilize a planet (for life as we know it) but can result in frequent extinction level events. In light of recent reports, the interaction of hard-spectrum SPEs with the atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b is modeled and implications on its habitability is discussed.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          2016-06-22
          2016-09-28
          Article
          1606.07027
          76e78644-5d61-48e6-abff-c5a1adcf3588

          http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

          History
          Custom metadata
          MNRAS Letters, in press
          astro-ph.EP

          Planetary astrophysics
          Planetary astrophysics

          Comments

          Comment on this article