arXiv subjects

Lisa Kaltenegger

Publications and source records attributed to Lisa Kaltenegger.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

High resolution Spectra of Earth-Like Planets Orbiting Red Giant Host Stars

In the near future we will have ground- and space-based telescopes that are designed to observe and characterize Earth-like planets. While attention is focused on exoplanets orbiting main sequence stars, more than 150 exoplanets have already been detected orbiting red giants, opening the intriguing question of what rocky worlds orbiting in the habitable zone of red giants would be like and how to characterize them. We model reflection and emission spectra of Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of red giant hosts with surface temperatures between 5200 and 3900 K at the Earth-equivalent distance, as well as model planet spectra throughout the evolution of their hosts. We present a high-resolution spectral database of Earth-like planets orbiting in the red giant habitable zone from the visible to infrared, to assess the feasibility of characterizing atmospheric features including biosignatures for such planets with upcoming ground- and space-based telescopes such as the Extremely Large Telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope.

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arXiv2020

A Giant Planet Candidate Transiting a White Dwarf

Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the solar system, most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into white dwarfs. During the red giant phase, any close-orbiting planets will be engulfed by the star, but more distant planets can survive this phase and remain in orbit around the white dwarf. Some white dwarfs show evidence for rocky material floating in their atmospheres, in warm debris disks, or orbiting very closely, which has been interpreted as the debris of rocky planets that were scattered inward and tidally disrupted. Recently, the discovery of a gaseous debris disk with a composition similar to ice giant planets demonstrated that massive planets might also find their way into tight orbits around white dwarfs, but it is unclear whether the planets can survive the journey. So far, the detection of intact planets in close orbits around white dwarfs has remained elusive. Here, we report the discovery of a giant planet candidate transiting the white dwarf WD 1856+534 (TIC 267574918) every 1.4 days. The planet candidate is roughly the same size as Jupiter and is no more than 14 times as massive (with 95% confidence). Other cases of white dwarfs with close brown dwarf or stellar companions are explained as the consequence of common-envelope evolution, wherein the original orbit is enveloped during the red-giant phase and shrinks due to friction. In this case, though, the low mass and relatively long orbital period of the planet candidate make common-envelope evolution less likely. Instead, the WD 1856+534 system seems to demonstrate that giant planets can be scattered into tight orbits without being tidally disrupted, and motivates searches for smaller transiting planets around white dwarfs.

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arXiv2020

The White Dwarf Opportunity: Robust Detections of Molecules in Earth-like Exoplanet Atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope

The near-term search for life beyond the solar system currently focuses on transiting planets orbiting small M dwarfs, and the challenges of detecting signs of life in their atmospheres. However, planets orbiting white dwarfs (WDs) would provide a unique opportunity to characterize rocky worlds. The discovery of the first transiting giant planet orbiting a white dwarf, WD 1856+534b, showed that planetary-mass objects can survive close-in orbits around WDs. The large radius ratio between WD planets and their host renders them exceptional targets for transmission spectroscopy. Here, we explore the molecular detectability and atmospheric characterization potential for a notional Earth-like planet, evolving in the habitable zone of WD 1856+534, with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We establish that the atmospheric composition of such Earth-like planets orbiting WDs can be precisely retrieved with JWST. We demonstrate that robust > 5$σ$ detections of H$_2$O and CO$_2$ can be achieved in a 5 transit reconnaissance program, while the biosignatures O$_3$ + CH$_4$, and O$_3$ + N$_2$O can be detected to > 4$σ$ in as few as 25 transits. N$_2$ and O$_2$ can be detected to > 5$σ$ within 100 transits. Given the short transit duration of WD habitable zone planets (~ 2 minutes for WD 1856+534), conclusive molecular detections can be achieved in a small or medium JWST transmission spectroscopy program. Rocky planets in the WD habitable zone therefore represent a promising opportunity to characterize terrestrial planet atmospheres and explore the possibility of a second genesis on these worlds.

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arXiv2020

The High-Energy Radiation Environment Around a 10 Gyr M Dwarf: Habitable at Last?

High levels of X-ray and UV activity on young M dwarfs may drive rapid atmospheric escape on temperate, terrestrial planets orbiting within the liquid water habitable zone. However, secondary atmospheres on planets orbiting older, less active M dwarfs may be stable and present more promising candidates for biomarker searches. We present new HST and Chandra observations of Barnard's Star (GJ 699), a 10 Gyr old M3.5 dwarf, acquired as part of the Mega-MUSCLES program. Despite the old age and long rotation period of Barnard's star, we observe two FUV ($δ_{130}$ $\approx$ 5000s; $E_{130}$ $\approx$ 10$^{29.5}$ erg each) and one X-ray ($E_{X}$ $\approx$ 10$^{29.2}$ erg) flares, and estimate a high-energy flare duty cycle (defined here as the fraction of the time the star is in a flare state) of $\sim$ 25\%. A 5 A - 10 $μ$m SED of GJ 699 is created and used to evaluate the atmospheric stability of a hypothetical, unmagnetized terrestrial planet in the habitable zone ($r_{HZ}$ $\sim$ 0.1 AU). Both thermal and non-thermal escape modeling indicate (1) the $quiescent$ stellar XUV flux does not lead to strong atmospheric escape: atmospheric heating rates are comparable to periods of high solar activity on modern Earth, and (2) the $flare$ environment could drive the atmosphere into a hydrodynamic loss regime at the observed flare duty cycle: sustained exposure to the flare environment of GJ 699 results in the loss of $\approx$ 87 Earth atmospheres Gyr$^{-1}$ through thermal processes and $\approx$ 3 Earth atmospheres Gyr$^{-1}$ through ion loss processes, respectively. These results suggest that if rocky planet atmospheres can survive the initial $\sim$ 5 Gyr of high stellar activity, or if a second generation atmosphere can be formed or acquired, the flare duty cycle may be the controlling stellar parameter for the stability of Earth-like atmospheres around old M stars.

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arXiv2020

The First Habitable Zone Earth-sized Planet from TESS. I: Validation of the TOI-700 System

We present the discovery and validation of a three-planet system orbiting the nearby (31.1 pc) M2 dwarf star TOI-700 (TIC 150428135). TOI-700 lies in the TESS continuous viewing zone in the Southern Ecliptic Hemisphere; observations spanning 11 sectors reveal three planets with radii ranging from 1 R$_\oplus$ to 2.6 R$_\oplus$ and orbital periods ranging from 9.98 to 37.43 days. Ground-based follow-up combined with diagnostic vetting and validation tests enable us to rule out common astrophysical false-positive scenarios and validate the system of planets. The outermost planet, TOI-700 d, has a radius of $1.19\pm0.11$ R$_\oplus$ and resides in the conservative habitable zone of its host star, where it receives a flux from its star that is approximately 86% of the Earth's insolation. In contrast to some other low-mass stars that host Earth-sized planets in their habitable zones, TOI-700 exhibits low levels of stellar activity, presenting a valuable opportunity to study potentially-rocky planets over a wide range of conditions affecting atmospheric escape. While atmospheric characterization of TOI-700 d with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be challenging, the larger sub-Neptune, TOI-700 c (R = 2.63 R$_\oplus$), will be an excellent target for JWST and beyond. TESS is scheduled to return to the Southern Hemisphere and observe TOI-700 for an additional 11 sectors in its extended mission, which should provide further constraints on the known planet parameters and searches for additional planets and transit timing variations in the system.

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arXiv2020

High-resolution Spectra for a Wide Range of Habitable Zone Planets around Sun-like Stars

The search for life in the universe is currently focused on Earth-analog planets. However, we should be prepared to find a diversity of terrestrial exoplanets not only in terms of host star but also in terms of surface environment. Simulated high-resolution spectra of habitable planets covering a wide parameter space are essential in training retrieval tools, optimizing observing strategies, and interpreting upcoming observations. Ground-based extremely large telescopes like ELT, GMT, and TMT; and future space-based mission concepts like Origins, HabEx, and LUVOIR are designed to have the capability of characterizing a variety of potentially habitable worlds. Some of these telescopes will use high precision radial velocity techniques to obtain the required high-resolution spectra ($R\approx100,000$) needed to characterize potentially habitable exoplanets. Here we present a database of high-resolution (0.01 cm$^{-1}$) reflection and emission spectra for simulated exoplanets with a wide range of surfaces, receiving similar irradiation as Earth around 12 different host stars from F0 to K7. Depending on surface type and host star, we show differences in spectral feature strength as well as overall reflectance, emission, and star to planet contrast ratio of terrestrial planets in the Habitable zone of their host stars. Accounting for the wavelength-dependent interaction of the stellar flux and the surface will help identify the best targets for upcoming spectral observations in the visible and infrared. All of our spectra and model profiles are available online.

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arXiv2020

How surfaces shape the climate of habitable exoplanets

Large ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to observe Earth-like planets in the near future. We explore how different planetary surfaces can strongly influence the climate, atmospheric composition, and remotely detectable spectra of terrestrial rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone depending on the host star's incident irradiation spectrum for a range of Sun-like host stars from F0V to K7V. We update a well-tested 1D climate-photochemistry model to explore the changes of a planetary environment for different surfaces for different host stars. Our results show that using a wavelength-dependent surface albedo is critical for modeling potentially habitable rocky exoplanets.

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arXiv2020

High-resolution Spectra and Biosignatures of Earth-like Planets Transiting White Dwarfs

With the first observations of debris disks as well as proposed planets around white dwarfs, the question of how rocky planets around such stellar remnants can be characterized and probed for signs of life becomes tangible. White dwarfs are similar in size to Earth and have relatively stable environments for billions of years after initial cooling, making them intriguing targets for exoplanet searches and terrestrial planet atmospheric characterization. Their small size and the resulting large planet transit signal allows observations with next generation telescopes to probe the atmosphere of such rocky planets, if they exist. We model high-resolution transmission spectra for planets orbiting white dwarfs from as they cool from 6,000-4,000 K, for i) planets receiving equivalent irradiation to modern Earth, and ii) planets orbiting at the distance around a cooling white dwarf which allows for the longest continuous time in the habitable zone. All high-resolution transmission spectra will be publicly available online upon publication of this study and can be used as a tool to prepare and interpret upcoming observations with JWST, the Extremely Large Telescopes as well as mission concepts like Origins, HabEx, and LUVOIR.

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arXiv2019

High-Resolution Transmission Spectra of Earth through Geological Time

The next generation of ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to observe rocky Earth-like planets in the near future, transiting their host star. We explore how the transmission spectrum of Earth changed through its geological history. These transmission spectra provide a template for how to characterize an Earth-like exoplanet - from a young prebiotic world to a modern Earth. They also allow us to explore at what point in its evolution a distant observer could identify life on our Pale Blue Dot and other worlds like it. We chose atmosphere models representative of five geological epochs of Earth's history, corresponding to a prebiotic high CO2-world 3.9 billion years ago (Ga), an anoxic world around 3.5 Ga, and 3 epochs through the rise of oxygen from 0.2 percent to present atmospheric levels of 21 percent. Our transmission spectra show atmospheric spectral features, which would show a remote observer that Earth had a biosphere since about 2 billion years ago. These high-resolution transmission spectral database of Earth through geological time from the VIS to the IR is available online and can be used as a tool to optimize our observation strategy, train retrieval methods, and interpret upcoming observations with JWST, the Extremely Large Telescopes and future mission concepts like Origins, HabEx, and LUOVIR.

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arXiv2019

High-resolution reflection spectra for Proxima b and Trappist-1e models for ELT observations

The closest stars that harbor potentially habitable planets are cool M-stars. Upcoming ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to search the atmosphere of such planets for a range of chemicals. To facilitate this search and to inform upcoming observations, we model the high-resolution reflection spectra of two of the closest potentially habitable exoplanets for a range of terrestrial atmospheres and surface pressures for active and inactive phases of their host stars for both oxic and anoxic conditions: Proxima b, the closest potentially habitable exoplanet, and Trappist-1e, one of 3 Earth-size planets orbiting in the Habitable Zone of Trappist-1. We find that atmospheric spectral features, including biosignatures like O2 in combination with a reduced gas like CH4 for oxic atmospheres, as well as climate indicators like CO2 and H2O for all atmospheres, show absorption features in the spectra of Proxima b and Trappist-1e models. However for some features like oxygen, high-resolution observations will be critical to identify them in a planet's reflected flux. Thus these two planets will be among the best targets for upcoming observations of potential Earth-like planets in reflected light with planned Extremely Large Telescopes.

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arXiv2019

Biofluorescent Worlds II. Biological fluorescence induced by stellar UV flares, a new temporal biosignature

Our first targets in the search for signs of life are orbiting nearby M stars, such as the planets in the Proxima Centauri, Ross-128, LHS-1140, and TRAPPIST-1 systems. Future ground-based discoveries, and those from the TESS mission, will provide additional close-by targets. However, young M stars tend to be very active, flaring frequently and causing UV fluxes on the surfaces of HZ planets to become biologically harmful. Common UV-protection methods used by life (e.g. living underground, or underwater) would make a biosphere harder to detect. However, photoprotective biofluorescence, 'up-shifting' UV to longer, safer wavelengths, could increase a biosphere's detectability. Here we model intermittent emission at specific wavelengths in the visible spectrum caused by biofluorescence as a new temporal biosignature for planets around active M stars. We use the absorption and emission characteristics of common coral fluorescent pigments and proteins to create model spectra and colours for an Earth-like planet in such a system, accounting for different surface features, atmospheric absorption, and cloud cover. We find that for a cloud-free planet biofluorescence could induce a temporary change in brightness that is significantly higher than the reflected flux alone, causing up to two orders-of-magnitude change in planet-star contrast, compared to a non-fluorescent state, if the surface is fully covered by a highly efficient fluorescent biosphere. Hence, UV-flare induced biofluorescence presents previously unexplored possibilities for a new temporal biosignature that could be detectable by instruments like those planned for the extremely large telescope and could reveal hidden biospheres.

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arXiv2019

Expanding the Timeline for Earth's Photosynthetic Red Edge Biosignature

When Carl Sagan observed the Earth during a Gallileo fly-by in 1993, he found a widely distributed surface pigment with a sharp reflection edge in the red part of the spectrum, which, together with the abundance of gaseous oxygen and methane in extreme thermodynamic disequilibrium, were strongly suggestive of the presence of life on Earth. This widespread pigmentation that could not be explained by geological processes alone, is caused by the cellular structure of vegetation - a mechanism for potentially limiting damage to chlorophyll and/or limiting water loss. The distinctive increase in the red portion of Earth's global reflectance spectrum is called the vegetation red edge in astrobiology literature and is one of the proposed surface biosignatures to search for on exoplanets and exomoons. Earth's surface vegetation has only been widespread for about half a billion years, providing a surface biosignature for approximately 1/9th our planet's lifetime. However, as chlorophyll is present in many forms of life on Earth, like cyanobacteria, algae, lichen, corals, as well as leafy vegetation, such a spectral red edge feature could indicate a wide range of life, expanding its use for the search for surface biosignatures beyond vegetation alone to a time long before vegetation became widespread on Earth. We show how lichens could extend the presence of Earth's red edge surface biofeature to 1.2 Gyr ago, while ocean surface algae and cyanobacteria could extend it to over 2 Gyr ago, expanding the use of a photosynthetic red edge to earlier times in Earth's history.

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arXiv2019

The L 98-59 System: Three Transiting, Terrestrial-Sized Planets Orbiting a Nearby M-dwarf

We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three terrestrial-sized planets transiting L 98-59 (TOI-175, TIC 307210830) -- a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. Using the Gaia-measured distance and broad-band photometry we find that the host star is an M3 dwarf. Combined with the TESS transits from three sectors, the corresponding stellar parameters yield planet radii ranging from 0.8REarth to 1.6REarth. All three planets have short orbital periods, ranging from 2.25 to 7.45 days with the outer pair just wide of a 2:1 period resonance. Diagnostic tests produced by the TESS Data Validation Report and the vetting package DAVE rule out common false positive sources. These analyses, along with dedicated follow-up and the multiplicity of the system, lend confidence that the observed signals are caused by planets transiting L 98-59 and are not associated with other sources in the field. The L 98-59 system is interesting for a number of reasons: the host star is bright (V = 11.7 mag, K = 7.1 mag) and the planets are prime targets for further follow-up observations including precision radial-velocity mass measurements and future transit spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope; the near resonant configuration makes the system a laboratory to study planetary system dynamical evolution; and three planets of relatively similar size in the same system present an opportunity to study terrestrial planets where other variables (age, metallicity, etc.) can be held constant. L 98-59 will be observed in 4 more TESS sectors, which will provide a wealth of information on the three currently known planets and have the potential to reveal additional planets in the system.

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arXiv2019

Atmospheres and UV Environments of Earth-like Planets Throughout Post-Main Sequence Evolution

During the post-main sequence phase of stellar evolution the orbital distance of the habitable zone, which allows for liquid surface water on terrestrial planets, moves out past the system's original frost line, providing an opportunity for outer planetary system surface habitability. We use a 1D coupled climate/photochemistry code to study the impact of the stellar environment on the planetary atmospheres of Earth-like planets/moons throughout its time in the post-main sequence habitable zone. We also explore the ground UV environments of such planets/moons and compare them to Earth's. We model the evolution of star-planet systems with host stars ranging from 1.0 to 3.5 M$_\odot$ throughout the post-main sequence, calculating stellar mass loss and its effects on planetary orbital evolution and atmospheric erosion. The maximum amount of time a rocky planet can spend continuously in the evolving post-MS habitable zone ranges between 56 and 257 Myr for our grid stars. Thus, during the post-MS evolution of their host star, subsurface life on cold planets and moons could become remotely detectable once the initially frozen surface melts. Frozen planets or moons, like Europa in our Solar System, experience a relatively stable environment on the horizontal branch of their host stars' evolution for millions of years.

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arXiv2019

Lessons from early Earth: UV surface radiation should not limit the habitability of active M star systems

The closest potentially habitable worlds outside our Solar system orbit a different kind of star than our Sun: smaller red dwarf stars. Such stars can flare frequently, bombarding their planets with biologically damaging high-energy UV radiation, placing planetary atmospheres at risk of erosion and bringing the habitability of these worlds into question. However, the surface UV flux on these worlds is unknown. Here we show the first models of the surface UV environments of the four closest potentially habitable exoplanets: Proxima-b, TRAPPIST-1e, Ross-128b, and LHS-1140b assuming different atmospheric compositions, spanning Earth-analogue to eroded and anoxic atmospheres and compare them to levels for Earth throughout its geological evolution. Even for planet models with eroded and anoxic atmospheres, surface UV radiation remains below early Earth levels, even during flares. Given that the early Earth was inhabited, we show that UV radiation should not be a limiting factor for the habitability of planets orbiting M stars. Our closest neighbouring worlds remain intriguing targets for the search for life beyond our Solar system.

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arXiv2019

Climate sensitivity to ozone and its relevance on the habitability of Earth-like planets

Atmospheric ozone plays an important role on the temperature structure of the atmosphere. However, it has not been included in previous studies on the effect of an increasing solar radiation on the Earth's climate. Here we study the climate sensitivity to the presence/absence of ozone with an increasing solar forcing for the first time with a global climate model. We show that the warming effect of ozone increases both the humidity of the lower atmosphere and the surface temperature. Under the same solar irradiance, the mean surface temperature is 7 K higher than in an analog planet without ozone. Therefore, the moist greenhouse threshold, the state at which water vapor becomes abundant in the stratosphere, is reached at a lower solar irradiance (1572 Wm^-2 with respect to 1647 Wm^-2 in the case without ozone). Our results imply that ozone reduces the maximum solar irradiance at which Earth-like planets would remain habitable.

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arXiv2019

Climate Sensitivity to Carbon Dioxide and Moist Greenhouse threshold of Earth-like planets under an increasing solar forcing

Carbon dioxide is one of the major contributors to the radiative forcing, increasing both the temperature and the humidity of Earth's atmosphere. If the stellar irradiance increases and water becomes abundant in the stratosphere of an Earth-like planet, it will be dissociated and the resultant hydrogen will escape from the atmosphere. This state is called the moist greenhouse threshold (MGT). Using a global climate model (GCM) of intermediate complexity, we explore how to identify this state for different CO2 concentrations and including the radiative effect of atmospheric ozone for the first time. We show that the moist greenhouse threshold correlates with the inflection point in the water vapor mixing ratio in the stratosphere and a peak in the climate sensitivity. For CO2 concentrations between 560 ppm and 200 ppm, the moist greenhouse threshold is reached at a surface temperature of 320 K. Despite the higher simplicity of our model, our results are consistent with similar simulations without ozone by complex GCMs, suggesting that they are robust indicators of the MGT. We discuss the implications for inner edge of the habitable zone as well as the water loss timescales for Earth analog planets.

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arXiv2018

The Vegetation Red Edge Biosignature Through Time on Earth and Exoplanets

The high reflection of land vegetation in the near-infrared, the vegetation red edge (VRE), is often cited as a spectral biosignature for surface vegetation on exoplanets. The VRE is only a few percent change in reflectivity for a disk-integrated observation of present-day Earth. Here we show that the strength of Earth's VRE has increased over the past ~500 million years of land plant evolution and may continue to increase as solar luminosity increases and the planet warms, until either vegetation coverage is reduced, or the planet's atmosphere becomes opaque to light reflected off the surface. Early plants like mosses and liverworts, which dominated on land 500-400 million years ago, produce a weaker VRE, approximately half as strong as that of modern vegetation. We explore how the changes in land plants, as well as geological changes like ice coverage during ice-ages and interglacial periods, influence the detectability of the VRE through Earth's geological past. Our results show that the VRE has varied through the evolutionary history of land plants on Earth, and could continue to change into the future if hotter climate conditions became dominant, encouraging the spread of vegetation. Our findings suggest that older and hotter Earth-like planets are good targets for the search for a VRE signature. In addition, hot exoplanets and dry exoplanets with some water could be the best targets for a successful vegetation biosignature detection. As well as a strong red edge, lower cloud-fractions and low levels of atmospheric water vapor on such planets could make it easier to detect surface features in general.

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