arXiv subjects

M. L. Khodachenko

Publications and source records attributed to M. L. Khodachenko.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Lyα Absorption at Transits of HD 209458b: A Comparative Study of Various Mechanisms Under Different Conditions

To shed more light on the nature of the observed Lyα absorption during transits of HD 209458b and to quantify the major mechanisms responsible for the production of fast hydrogen atoms (the so called energetic neutral atoms, ENAs) around the planet, 2D hydrodynamic multifluid modeling of the expanding planetary upper atmosphere, which is driven by stellar XUV, and its interaction with the stellar wind has been performed. The model selfconsistently describes the escaping planetary wind, taking into account the generation of ENAs due to particle acceleration by the radiation pressure and by the charge exchange between the stellar wind protons and planetary atoms. The calculations in a wide range of stellar wind parameters and XUV flux values showed that under typical Sun-like star conditions, the amount of generated ENAs is too small, and the observed absorption at the level of 6-8 percent can be attributed only to the non-resonant natural line broadening. For lower XUV fluxes, e.g., during the activity minima, the number of planetary atoms that survive photoionization and give rise to ENAs increases, resulting in up to 10-15 percent absorption at the blue wing of the Lya line, caused by resonant thermal line broadening. A similar asymmetric absorption can be seen under the conditions realized during coronal mass ejections, when sufficiently high stellar wind pressure confines the escaping planetary material within a kind of bowshock around the planet. It was found that the radiation pressure in all considered cases has a negligible contribution to the production of ENAs and the corresponding absorption.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

Atmosphere Expansion and Mass Loss of Close-Orbit Giant Exoplanets heated by Stellar XUV. II. Effects of Planetary Magnetic Field, Structuring of inner Magnetosphere

This is the second paper in a series where we build a self-consistent model to simulate the mass-loss process of a close-orbit magnetized giant exoplanet, so-called hot Jupiter (HJ). In this paper we generalize the hydrodynamic (HD) model of an HJ expanding hydrogen atmosphere, proposed in the first paper, to include the effects of intrinsic planetary magnetic field. The proposed self-consistent axisymmetric 2D magnetohydrodynamics model incorporates radiative heating and ionization of the atmospheric gas, basic hydrogen chemistry for the appropriate account of major species composing HJ's upper atmosphere and related radiative energy deposition, and H3+ and Lyα cooling processes. The model also takes into account a realistic solar-type X-ray/EUV spectrum for calculation of intensity and column density distribution of the radiative energy input, as well as gravitational and rotational forces acting in a tidally locked planet-star system. An interaction between the expanding atmospheric plasma and an intrinsic planetary magnetic dipole field leads to the formation of a current-carrying magnetodisk that plays an important role for topology and scaling of the planetary magnetosphere. A cyclic character of the magnetodisk behavior, composed of consequent phases of the disk formation followed by the magnetic reconnection with the ejection of a ring-type plasmoid, has been discovered and investigated. We found that the mass-loss rate of an HD 209458b analog planet is weakly affected by the equatorial surface field <0.3 G, but is suppressed by an order of magnitude at the field of 1 G.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

Magma oceans and enhanced volcanism on TRAPPIST-1 planets due to induction heating

Low-mass M stars are plentiful in the Universe and often host small, rocky planets detectable with the current instrumentation. Recently, seven small planets have been discovered orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1\cite{Gillon16,Gillon17}. We examine the role of electromagnetic induction heating of these planets, caused by the star's rotation and the planet's orbital motion. If the stellar rotation and magnetic dipole axes are inclined with respect to each other, induction heating can melt the upper mantle and enormously increase volcanic activity, sometimes producing a magma ocean below the planetary surface. We show that induction heating leads the three innermost planets, one of which is in the habitable zone, to either evolve towards a molten mantle planet, or to experience increased outgassing and volcanic activity, while the four outermost planets remain mostly unaffected.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

Effect of stellar wind induced magnetic fields on planetary obstacles of non-magnetized hot Jupiters

We investigate the interaction between the magnetized stellar wind plasma and the partially ionized hydrodynamic hydrogen outflow from the escaping upper atmosphere of non- or weakly magnetized hot Jupiters. We use the well-studied hot Jupiter HD 209458b as an example for similar exoplanets, assuming a negligible intrinsic magnetic moment. For this planet, the stellar wind plasma interaction forms an obstacle in the planet's upper atmosphere, in which the position of the magnetopause is determined by the condition of pressure balance between the stellar wind and the expanded atmosphere, heated by the stellar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. We show that the neutral atmospheric atoms penetrate into the region dominated by the stellar wind, where they are ionized by photo-ionization and charge exchange, and then mixed with the stellar wind flow. Using a 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, we show that an induced magnetic field forms in front of the planetary obstacle, which appears to be much stronger compared to those produced by the solar wind interaction with Venus and Mars. Depending on the stellar wind parameters, because of the induced magnetic field, the planetary obstacle can move up to ~0.5-1 planetary radii closer to the planet. Finally, we discuss how estimations of the intrinsic magnetic moment of hot Jupiters can be inferred by coupling hydrodynamic upper planetary atmosphere and MHD stellar wind interaction models together with UV observations. In particular, we find that HD 209458b should likely have an intrinsic magnetic moment of 10-20% that of Jupiter.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

Two regimes of interaction of a Hot Jupiter's escaping atmosphere with the stellar wind and generation of energized atomic hydrogen corona

The interaction of escaping upper atmosphere of a hydrogen rich non-magnetized analog of HD209458b with a stellar wind of its host G-type star at different orbital distances is simulated with a 2D axisymmetric multi-fluid hydrodynamic model. A realistic sun-like spectrum of XUV radiation which ionizes and heats the planetary atmosphere, hydrogen photo-chemistry, as well as stellar-planetary tidal interaction are taken into account to generate self-consistently an atmospheric hydrodynamic outflow. Two different regimes of the planetary and stellar winds interaction have been modelled. These are: 1) the "captured by the star" regime, when the tidal force and pressure gradient drive the planetary material beyond the Roche lobe towards the star, and 2) the "blown by the wind" regime, when sufficiently strong stellar wind confines the escaping planetary atmosphere and channels it into the tail. The model simulates in details the hydrodynamic interaction between the planetary atoms, protons and the stellar wind, as well as the production of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) around the planet due to charge-exchange between planetary atoms and stellar protons. The revealed location and shape of the ENA cloud either as a paraboloid shell between ionopause and bowshock (for the "blown by the wind" regime), or a turbulent layer at the contact boundary between the planetary stream and stellar wind (for the "captured by the star" regime) are of importance for the interpretation of Lyα absorption features in exoplanetary transit spectra and characterization of the plasma environments.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Thermal mass loss of protoplanetary cores with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres: The influences of ionization and orbital distance

We investigate the loss rates of the hydrogen atmospheres of terrestrial planets with a range of masses and orbital distances by assuming a stellar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) luminosity that is 100 times stronger than that of the current Sun. We apply a 1D upper atmosphere radiation absorption and hydrodynamic escape model that takes into account ionization, dissociation and recombination to calculate hydrogen mass loss rates. We study the effects of the ionization, dissociation and recombination on the thermal mass loss rates of hydrogen-dominated super-Earths and compare the results to those obtained by the energy-limited escape formula which is widely used for mass loss evolution studies. Our results indicate that the energy-limited formula can to a great extent over- or underestimate the hydrogen mass loss rates by amounts that depend on the stellar EUV flux and planetary parameters such as mass, size, effective temperature, and EUV absorption radius.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Investigation of scaling properties of a thin current sheet by means of particle trajectories study

A thin current sheet (TCS), with the width of an order of thermal proton gyroradius, appears a fundamental physical object which plays an important role in structuring of major magnetospheric current systems (magnetotail, magnetodisk, etc.). The TCSs are nowadays under extensive study by means of space missions and theoretical models. We consider a simple model of the TCS separating two half-spaces occupied by a homogenous magnetic field of opposite sign tangential to the TCS; a small normal component of the magnetic field is prescribed. An analytical solution for the electric current and plasma density in the close vicinity of the TCS has been obtained and compared with numerical simulation. The number density and the electric current profiles have two maxima each. The characteristic spatial scale $z_S$ of the maxima location was investigated as a function of initial pitch-angle of an incoming charge particle. The effect of the thermal dispersion of the incoming proton beam have been taken into consideration.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Atmosphere expansion and mass loss of close-orbit giant exoplanets heated by stellar XUV: I. Modeling of hydrodynamic escape of upper atmospheric material

In the present series of papers we propose a consistent description of the mass loss process. To study the effects of intrinsic magnetic field of a close-orbit giant exoplanet (so-called Hot Jupiter) on the atmospheric material escape and formation of planetary inner magnetosphere in a comprehensive way, we start with a hydrodynamic model of an upper atmosphere expansion presented in this paper. While considering a simple hydrogen atmosphere model, we focus on selfconsistent inclusion of the effects of radiative heating and ionization of the atmospheric gas with its consequent expansion in the outer space. Primary attention is paid to investigation of the role of specific conditions at the inner and outer boundaries of the simulation domain, under which different regimes of material escape (free- and restricted- flow) are formed. Comparative study of different processes, such as XUV heating, material ionization and recombination, H3+ cooling, adiabatic and Lyman-alpha cooling, Lyman-alpha reabsorption is performed. We confirm basic consistence of the outcomes of our modeling with the results of other hydrodynamic models of expanding planetary atmospheres. In particular, we obtain that under the typical conditions of an orbital distance 0.05 AU around a Sun-type star a Hot Jupiter plasma envelope may reach maximum temperatures up to ~9000K with a hydrodynamic escape speed ~9 km/s resulting in the mass loss rates ~(4-7)*10^10 g*s . In the range of considered stellar-planetary parameters and XUV fluxes that is close to mass loss in the energy limited case. The inclusion of planetary intrinsic magnetic fields in the model is a subject of the following up paper (Paper II).

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Magnetic moment and plasma environment of HD 209458b as determined from Ly$α$ observations

Transit observations of HD 209458b in the stellar Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) line revealed strong absorption in both blue and red wings of the line interpreted as hydrogen atoms escaping from the planet's exosphere at high velocities. The following sources for the absorption were suggested: acceleration by the stellar radiation pressure, natural spectral line broadening, charge exchange with stellar wind. We reproduce the observation by means of modelling that includes all aforementioned processes. Our results support a stellar wind with a velocity of $\approx400$ km$\times$s$^{-1}$ at the time of the observation and a planetary magnetic moment of $\approx 1.6 \times 10^{26}$ A$\times$m$^2$.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2014

A search for flares and mass ejections on young late-type stars in the open cluster Blanco-1

We present a search for stellar activity (flares and mass ejections) in a sample of 28 stars in the young open cluster Blanco-1. We use optical spectra obtained with ESO's VIMOS multi-object spectrograph installed on the VLT. From the total observing time of $\sim$ 5 hours, we find four H$α$ flares but no distinct indication of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the investigated dK-dM stars. Two flares show "dips" in their light-curves right before their impulsive phases which are similar to previous discoveries in photometric light-curves of active dMe stars. We estimate an upper limit of $<$4 CMEs per day per star and discuss this result with respect to a semi- empirical estimation of the CME rate of main-sequence stars. We find that we should have detected at least one CME per star with a mass of 1-15$\times10^{16}$ g depending on the star's X-ray luminosity, but the estimated H$α$ fluxes associated with these masses are below the detection limit of our observations. We conclude that the parameter which mainly influences the detection of stellar CMEs using the method of Doppler-shifted emission caused by moving plasma is not the spectral resolution or velocity but the flux or mass of the CME.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

The PLATO 2.0 Mission

PLATO 2.0 has recently been selected for ESA's M3 launch opportunity (2022/24). Providing accurate key planet parameters (radius, mass, density and age) in statistical numbers, it addresses fundamental questions such as: How do planetary systems form and evolve? Are there other systems with planets like ours, including potentially habitable planets? The PLATO 2.0 instrument consists of 34 small aperture telescopes (32 with 25 sec readout cadence and 2 with 2.5 sec candence) providing a wide field-of-view (2232 deg2) and a large photometric magnitude range (4-16 mag). It focusses on bright (4-11 mag) stars in wide fields to detect and characterize planets down to Earth-size by photometric transits, whose masses can then be determined by ground-based radial-velocity follow-up measurements. Asteroseismology will be performed for these bright stars to obtain highly accurate stellar parameters, including masses and ages. The combination of bright targets and asteroseismology results in high accuracy for the bulk planet parameters: 2%, 4-10% and 10% for planet radii, masses and ages, respectively. The planned baseline observing strategy includes two long pointings (2-3 years) to detect and bulk characterize planets reaching into the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-like stars and an additional step-and-stare phase to cover in total about 50% of the sky. PLATO 2.0 will observe up to 1,000,000 stars and detect and characterize hundreds of small planets, and thousands of planets in the Neptune to gas giant regime out to the HZ. It will therefore provide the first large-scale catalogue of bulk characterized planets with accurate radii, masses, mean densities and ages. This catalogue will include terrestrial planets at intermediate orbital distances, where surface temperatures are moderate. Coverage of this parameter range with statistical numbers of bulk characterized planets is unique to PLATO 2.0.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Stellar wind interaction and pick-up ion escape of the Kepler-11 "super-Earths"

We study the interactions between stellar wind and the extended hydrogen-dominated upper atmospheres of planets and the resulting escape of planetary pick-up ions from the 5 "super-Earths" in the compact Kepler-11 system and compare the escape rates with the efficiency of the thermal escape of neutral hydrogen atoms. Assuming the stellar wind of Kepler-11 is similar to the solar wind, we use a polytropic 1D hydrodynamic wind model to estimate the wind properties at the planetary orbits. We apply a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Model to model the hydrogen coronae and the stellar wind plasma interaction around Kepler-11b-f within a realistic expected heating efficiency range of 15-40%. The same model is used to estimate the ion pick-up escape from the XUV heated and hydrodynamically extended upper atmospheres of Kepler-11b-f. From the interaction model we study the influence of possible magnetic moments, calculate the charge exchange and photoionization production rates of planetary ions and estimate the loss rates of pick-up H+ ions for all five planets. We compare the results between the five "super-Earths" and in a more general sense also with the thermal escape rates of the neutral planetary hydrogen atoms. Our results show that for all Kepler-11b-f exoplanets, a huge neutral hydrogen corona is formed around the planet. The non-symmetric form of the corona changes from planet to planet and is defined mostly by radiation pressure and gravitational effects. Non-thermal escape rates of pick-up ionized hydrogen atoms for Kepler-11 "super-Earths" vary between approximately 6.4e30 1/s and 4.1e31 1/s depending on the planet's orbital location and assumed heating efficiency. These values correspond to non-thermal mass loss rates of approximately 1.07e7 g/s and 6.8e7 g/s respectively, which is a few percent of the thermal escape rates.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Dynamics of coronal rain and descending plasma blobs in solar prominences: I. Fully ionised case

Observations of active regions and limb prominences often show cold, dense blobs descending with an acceleration smaller than that of free fall. The dynamics of these condensations falling in the solar corona is investigated in this paper using a simple fully ionised plasma model. We find that the presence of a heavy condensation gives rise to a dynamical rearrangement of the coronal pressure that results in the formation of a large pressure gradient that opposes gravity. Eventually this pressure gradient becomes so large that the blob acceleration vanishes or even points upwards. Then, the blob descent is characterised by an initial acceleration phase followed by an essentially constant velocity phase. These two stages can be identified in published time-distance diagrams of coronal rain events. Both the duration of the first stage and the velocity attained by the blob increase for larger values of the ratio of blob to coronal density, for larger blob mass, and for smaller coronal temperature. Dense blobs are characterised by a detectable density growth (up to 60% in our calculations) and by a steepening of the density in their lower part, that could lead to the formation of a shock. They also emit sound waves that could be detected as small intensity changes with periods of the order of 100 s and lasting between a few and about ten periods. Finally, the curvature of the falling path is only relevant when a very dense blob falls along inclined magnetic field lines.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

XUV exposed non-hydrostatic hydrogen-rich upper atmospheres of terrestrial planets. Part I: Atmospheric expansion and thermal escape

The recently discovered low-density "super-Earths" Kepler-11b, Kepler-11f, Kepler-11d, Kepler-11e, and planets such as GJ 1214b represent most likely planets which are surrounded by dense H/He envelopes or contain deep H2O oceans also surrounded by dense hydrogen envelopes. Although these "super-Earths" are orbiting relatively close to their host stars, they have not lost their captured nebula-based hydrogen-rich or degassed volatile-rich steam protoatmospheres. Thus it is interesting to estimate the maximum possible amount of atmospheric hydrogen loss from a terrestrial planet orbiting within the habitable zone of late main sequence host stars. For studying the thermosphere structure and escape we apply a 1-D hydrodynamic upper atmosphere model which solves the equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation for a planet with the mass and size of the Earth and for a "super-Earth" with a size of 2 R_Earth and a mass of 10 M_Earth. We calculate volume heating rates by the stellar soft X-ray and EUV radiation and expansion of the upper atmosphere, its temperature, density and velocity structure and related thermal escape rates during planet's life time. Moreover, we investigate under which conditions both planets enter the blow-off escape regime and may therefore experience loss rates which are close to the energy-limited escape. Finally we discuss the results in the context of atmospheric evolution and implications for habitability of terrestrial planets in general.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

XUV exposed, non-hydrostatic hydrogen-rich upper atmospheres of terrestrial planets II: Hydrogen coronae and ion escape

We study the interactions between the stellar wind plasma flow of a typical M star, such as GJ 436, and hydrogen-rich upper atmospheres of an Earth-like planet and a "super-Earth" with the radius of 2 R_Earth and a mass of 10 M_Earth, located within the habitable zone at ~0.24 AU. We investigate the formation of extended atomic hydrogen coronae under the influences of the stellar XUV flux (soft X-rays and EUV), stellar wind density and velocity, shape of a planetary obstacle (e.g., magnetosphere, ionopause), and the loss of planetary pick-up ions on the evolution of hydrogen-dominated upper atmospheres. Stellar XUV fluxes which are 1, 10, 50 and 100 times higher compared to that of the present-day Sun are considered and the formation of high-energy neutral hydrogen clouds around the planets due to the charge-exchange reaction under various stellar conditions have been modeled. Charge-exchange between stellar wind protons with planetary hydrogen atoms, and photoionization, leads to the production of initially cold ions of planetary origin. We found that the ion production rates for the studied planets can vary over a wide range, from ~1.0x10^{25} s^{-1} to ~5.3x10^{30} s^{-1}, depending on the stellar wind conditions and the assumed XUV exposure of the upper atmosphere. Our findings indicate that most likely the majority of these planetary ions are picked up by the stellar wind and lost from the planet. Finally, we estimate the long-time non-thermal ion pick-up escape for the studied planets and compare them with the thermal escape. According to our estimates, non-thermal escape of picked up ionized hydrogen atoms over a planet's lifetime varies between ~0.4 Earth ocean equivalent amounts of hydrogen (EO_H) to <3 EO_H and usually is several times smaller in comparison to the thermal atmospheric escape rates.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Torsional Alfvén waves in solar partially ionized plasma: effects of neutral helium and stratification

Ion-neutral collisions may lead to the damping of Alfven waves in chromospheric and prominence plasmas. Neutral helium atoms enhance the damping in certain temperature interval, where the ratio of neutral helium and neutral hydrogen atoms is increased. Therefore, the height-dependence of ionization degrees of hydrogen and helium may influence the damping rate of Alfven waves. We aim to study the effect of neutral helium in the damping of Alfven waves in stratified partially ionized plasma of the solar chromosphere. We consider a magnetic flux tube, which is expanded up to 1000 km height and then becomes vertical due to merging with neighboring tubes, and study the dynamics of linear torsional Alfven waves in the presence of neutral hydrogen and neutral helium atoms. We start with three-fluid description of plasma and consequently derive single-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations for torsional Alfven waves. Thin flux tube approximation allows to obtain the dispersion relation of the waves in the lower part of tubes, while the spatial dependence of steady-state Alfven waves is governed by Bessel type equation in the upper part of tubes. Consecutive derivation of single-fluid MHD equations results in a new Cowling diffusion coefficient in the presence of neutral helium which is different from previously used one. We found that shorter-period (< 5 s) torsional Alfven waves damp quickly in the chromospheric network due to ion-neutral collision. On the other hand, longer-period (> 5 s) waves do not reach the transition region as they become evanescent at lower heights in the network cores. Propagation of torsional Alfven waves through the chromosphere into the solar corona should be considered with caution: low-frequency waves are evanescent due to the stratification, while high-frequency waves are damped due to ion neutral collisions.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Probing the Blow-Off Criteria of Hydrogen-Rich "Super-Earths"

The discovery of transiting "super-Earths" with inflated radii and known masses such as Kepler-11b-f, GJ 1214b and 55 Cnc e, indicates that these exoplanets did not lose their nebula-captured hydrogen-rich, degassed or impact-delivered protoatmospheres by atmospheric escape processes. Because hydrodynamic blow-off of atmospheric hydrogen atoms is the most efficient atmospheric escape process we apply a time-dependent numerical algorithm which is able to solve the system of 1-D fluid equations for mass, momentum, and energy conservation to investigate the criteria under which "super-Earths" with hydrogen-dominated upper atmospheres can experience hydrodynamic expansion by heating of the stellar XUV (soft X-rays and extreme ultraviolet) radiation and thermal escape via blow-off. Depending on orbit location, XUV flux, heating efficiency and the planet's mean density our results indicate that the upper atmospheres of all "super-Earths" can expand to large distances, so that besides of Kepler-11c all of them experience atmospheric mass-loss due to Roche lobe overflow. The atmospheric mass-loss of the studied "super-Earths" is one to two orders of magnitude lower compared to that of "hot Jupiters" such as HD 209458b, so that one can expect that these exoplanets cannot lose their hydrogen-envelopes during their remaining lifetimes.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2012

Cut-off wavenumber of Alfven waves in partially ionized plasmas of the solar atmosphere

Alfven wave dynamics in partially ionized plasmas of the solar atmosphere shows that there is indeed a cut-off wavenumber, i.e. the Alfven waves with wavenumbers higher than the cut-off value are evanescent. The cut-off wavenumber appears in single-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) approximation but it is absent in a multi-fluid approach. Up to now, an explanation for the existence of the cut-off wavenumber is still missing. The aim of this paper is to point out the reason for the appearance of a cut-off wavenumber in single-fluid MHD. Beginning with three-fluid equations (with electrons, protons and neutral hydrogen atoms), we performed consecutive approximations until we obtained the usual single-fluid description is obtained. We solved the dispersion relation of linear Alfven waves at each step and sought the approximation responsible of the cut-off wavenumber appearance. We have found that neglecting inertial terms significantly reduces the real part of the Alfven frequency although it never becomes zero. Therefore, the cut-off wavenumber does not exist at this stage. However, when the inertial terms together with the Hall term in the induction equation are neglected, the real part of the Alfven frequency becomes zero. The appearance of a cut-off wavenumber, when Alfven waves in partially ionized regions of the solar atmosphere are studied, is the result of neglecting inertial and Hall terms, therefore it has no physical origin.

astro-ph.SR↗