Mysterious non-detection of HeI (23S) transit absorption of GJ436b

Abstract

Possible reasons for the non-detection of absorption in the metastable HeI(2^3S) line at transit observations of warm Neptune GJ436b, in spite of the well pronounced strong absorption features measured earlier in Ly{\alpha} for this planet, are investigated. We perform numeric simulations of the escaping upper atmosphere of this planet and its HeI(2^3S) triplet absorption with a global 3D multi-fluid self-consistent hydrodynamic model. By fitting the model parameters to the lowest detection level of absorption measurements, we constrain an upper limit the He/H abundance three times smaller than the solar value. We demonstrate that neither the significant changes of the stellar wind related with possible stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or possible variations in the stellar ionization radiation, nor the presence of heavy trace elements have crucial effect on the absorption at the 10830{\AA} line of HeI(2^3S) triplet. The main reason of weak signature is that the region populated by the absorbing metastable helium is rather small (<3R_p), as well as the small size of the planet itself, in comparison to the host star. We show that the radiation pressure force acting on the HeI(2^3S) atoms spreads them along the line of sight and around the planet, thus further reducing peak absorption.