arXiv subjects

David Crisp

Publications and source records attributed to David Crisp.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Bimodal Distribution of Sulfuric Acid Aerosols in the Upper Haze of Venus

The upper haze (UH) of Venus is variable on the order of days and it is populated by two particle modes. We use a 1D microphysics and vertical transport model based on the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres to evaluate whether interaction of upwelled cloud particles and sulfuric acid particles nucleated in situ on meteoric dust are able to generate the two size modes and whether their observed variability are due to cloud top vertical transient winds. Nucleation of photochemically produced sulfuric acid onto polysulfur condensation nuclei generates mode 1 cloud droplets that then diffuse upwards into the UH. Droplets generated in the UH from nucleation of sulfuric acid onto meteoric dust coagulate with the upwelled cloud particles and cannot reproduce the observed bimodal size distribution. The mass transport enabled by cloud top transient winds are able to generate a bimodal size distribution in a time scale consistent with observations. Sedimentation and convection in the middle and lower clouds causes the formation of large mode 2 and mode 3 particles. Evaporation of these particles below the clouds creates a local sulfuric acid vapor maximum that causes upwelling of sulfuric acid back into the clouds. If the polysulfur condensation nuclei are small and their production rate is high, coagulation of small droplets onto larger droplets in the middle cloud may result in sulfuric acid "rain" below the clouds once every few Earth months. Reduction of the polysulfur condensation nuclei production rate destroys this oscillation and reduces the mode 1 particle abundance in the middle cloud by two orders of magnitude, though it better reproduces the sulfur-to-sulfuric-acid mass ratio in the cloud and haze droplets. In general we find satisfactory agreement between our results and observations, though improvements could be made by incorporating sulfur microphysics.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2010

Detecting Oceans on Extrasolar Planets Using the Glint Effect

Glint, the specular reflection of sunlight off Earth's oceans, may reveal the presence of oceans on an extrasolar planet. As an Earth-like planet nears crescent phases, the size of the ocean glint spot increases relative to the fraction of illuminated disk, while the reflectivity of this spot increases. Both effects change the planet's visible reflectivity as a function of phase. However, strong forward scattering of radiation by clouds can also produce increases in a planet's reflectivity as it approaches crescent phases, and surface glint can be obscured by Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric absorption. Here we explore the detectability of glint in the presence of an atmosphere and realistic phase-dependent scattering from oceans and clouds. We use the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Virtual Planetary Laboratory 3-D line-by-line, multiple-scattering spectral Earth model to simulate Earth's broadband visible brightness and reflectivity over an orbit. Our validated simulations successfully reproduce phase-dependent Earthshine observations. We find that the glinting Earth can be as much as 100% brighter at crescent phases than simulations that do not include glint, and that the effect is dependent on both orbital inclination and wavelength, where the latter dependence is caused by Rayleigh scattering limiting sensitivity to the surface. We show that this phenomenon may be observable using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) paired with an external occulter.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2007

Spectral signatures of photosynthesis II: coevolution with other stars and the atmosphere on extrasolar worlds

As photosynthesis on Earth produces the primary signatures of life that can be detected astronomically at the global scale, a strong focus of the search for extrasolar life will be photosynthesis, particularly photosynthesis that has evolved with a different parent star. We take planetary atmospheric compositions simulated by Segura, et al. (2003, 2005) for Earth-like planets around observed F2V and K2V stars, modeled M1V and M5V stars, and around the active M4.5V star AD Leo; our scenarios use Earth's atmospheric composition as well as very low O2 content in case anoxygenic photosynthesis dominates. We calculate the incident spectral photon flux densities at the surface of the planet and under water. We identify bands of available photosynthetically relevant radiation and find that photosynthetic pigments on planets around F2V stars may peak in absorbance in the blue, K2V in the red-orange, and M stars in the NIR, in bands at 0.93-1.1 microns, 1.1-1.4 microns, 1.5-1.8 microns, and 1.8-2.5 microns. In addition, we calculate wavelength restrictions for underwater organisms and depths of water at which they would be protected from UV flares in the early life of M stars. We estimate the potential productivity for both surface and underwater photosynthesis, for both oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis, and for hypothetical photosynthesis in which longer wavelength, multi-photosystem series are used.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Biosignatures from Earth-Like Planets Around M Dwarfs

Coupled one-dimensional photochemical-climate calculations have been performed for hypothetical Earth-like planets around M dwarfs. Visible, near-infrared and thermal-infrared synthetic spectra of these planets were generated to determine which biosignature gases might be observed by a future, space-based telescope. Our star sample included two observed active M dwarfs, AD Leo and GJ 643, and three quiescent model stars. The spectral distribution of these stars in the ultraviolet generates a different photochemistry on these planets. As a result, the biogenic gases CH4, N2O, and CH3Cl have substantially longer lifetimes and higher mixing ratios than on Earth, making them potentially observable by space-based telescopes. On the active M-star planets, an ozone layer similar to Earth's was developed that resulted in a spectroscopic signature comparable to the terrestrial one. The simultaneous detection of O2 (or O3) and a reduced gas in a planet's atmosphere has been suggested as strong evidence for life. Planets circling M stars may be good locations to search for such evidence.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Disk-averaged synthetic spectra of Mars

The principal goal of the NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA Darwin mission concepts is to directly detect and characterize extrasolar terrestrial (Earth-sized) planets. This first generation of instruments is expected to provide disk-averaged spectra with modest spectral resolution and signal-to-noise. Here we use a spatially and spectrally resolved model of the planet Mars to study the detectability of a planet's surface and atmospheric properties from disk-averaged spectra as a function of spectral resolution and wavelength range, for both the proposed visible coronograph (TPF-C) and mid-infrared interferometer (TPF-I/Darwin) architectures. At the core of our model is a spectrum-resolving (line-by-line) atmospheric/surface radiative transfer model which uses observational data as input to generate a database of spatially-resolved synthetic spectra for a range of illumination conditions (phase angles) and viewing geometries. Results presented here include disk averaged synthetic spectra, light-curves and the spectral variability at visible + mid-IR wavelengths for Mars as a function of viewing angle, illumination, season. We also considered the appearance of an increasingly frozen Mars and simulated its detection versus real Mars with TPF-C and TPF-I as a function of spectral resolving power, signal-to-noise, integration time.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Stellar Populations at the Center of IC 1613

We have observed the center of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613 with WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope in the F439W, F555W, and F814W filters. We find a dominant old stellar population (aged ~7 Gyr), identifiable by the strong red giant branch (RGB) and red clump populations. From the (V-I) color of the RGB, we estimate a mean metallicity of the intermediate-age stellar population [Fe/H] = -1.38 +/- 0.31. We confirm a distance of 715 +/- 40 kpc using the I-magnitude of the RGB tip. The main-sequence luminosity function down to I ~25 provides evidence for a roughly constant SFR of approximately 0.00035 solar masses per year across the WFPC2 field of view (0.22 square kpc) during the past 250-350 Myr. Structure in the blue loop luminosity function implies that the SFR was ~50% higher 400-900 Myr ago than today. The mean heavy element abundance of these young stars is 1/10th solar. The best explanation for a red spur on the main-sequence at I = 24.7 is the blue horizontal branch component of a very old stellar population at the center of IC 1613. We have also imaged a broader area of IC 1613 using the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope under excellent seeing conditions. The AGB-star luminosity function is consistent with a period of continuous star formation over at least the age range 2-10 Gyr. We present an approximate age-metallicity relation for IC 1613, which appears similar to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We compare the Hess diagram of IC 1613 to similar data for three other Local Group dwarf galaxies, and find that it most closely resembles the nearby, transition-type dwarf galaxy Pegasus (DDO 216).

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

WFPC2 Observations of Compact Star Cluster Nuclei in Low Luminosity Spiral Galaxies

We have used the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope to image the compact star cluster nuclei of the nearby, late-type, low-luminosity spiral galaxies NGC 4395, NGC 4242, and ESO 359-029. We also analyze archival WFPC2 observations of the compact star cluster nucleus of M33. A comparative analysis of the structural and photometric properties of these four nuclei is presented. All of the nuclei are very compact, with luminosity densities increasing at small radii to the resolution limit of our data. NGC 4395 contains a Seyfert 1 nucleus with a distinct bipolar structure and bright associated filaments which are likely due to [OIII] emission. The M33 nucleus has a complex structure, with elongated isophotes and possible signatures of weak activity, including a jet-like component. The other two nuclei are not known to be active, but share similar physical size scales and luminosities to the M33 and NGC 4395 nuclei. The circumnuclear environments of all four of our program galaxies are extremely diffuse, have only low-to-moderate star formation, and appear to be devoid of large quantities of dust. The central gravitational potentials of the galaxies are also quite shallow, making the origin of these types of `naked' nuclei problematic.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Stellar Populations in Three Outer Fields of the LMC

We present HST photometry for three fields in the outer disk of the LMC extending approximately four magnitudes below the faintest main sequence turnoff. We cannot detect any strongly significant differences in the stellar populations of the three fields based on the morphologies of the color-magnitude diagrams, the luminosity functions, and the relative numbers of stars in different evolutionary stages. Our observations therefore suggest similar star formation histories in these regions, although some variations are certainly allowed. The fields are located in two regions of the LMC: one is in the north-east field and two are located in the north-west. Under the assumption of a common star formation history, we combine the three fields with ground-based data at the same location as one of the fields to improve statistics for the brightest stars. We compare this stellar population with those predicted from several simple star formation histories suggested in the literature, using a combination of the R-method of Bertelli et al (1992) and comparisons with the observed luminosity function. The only model which we consider that is not rejected by the observations is one in which the star formation rate is roughly constant for most of the LMC's history and then increases by a factor of three about 2 Gyr ago. Such a model has roughly equal numbers of stars older and younger than 4 Gyr, and thus is not dominated by young stars. This star formation history, combined with a closed box chemical evolution model, is consistent with observations that the metallicity of the LMC has doubled in the past 2 Gyr.

astro-ph↗