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V. I. Shematovich

Publications and source records attributed to V. I. Shematovich.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Comparative Analysis of the Model for Exoplanet Atmosphere Outflow

Modeling the outflow of planetary atmospheres is important for understanding the evolution of exoplanet systems and for interpreting their observations. Modern theoretical models of exoplanet atmospheres become increasingly detailed and multicomponent, and this makes difficulties for engaging new researchers in the scope. Here, for the first time, we present the results of testing the gas-dynamic method incorporated in our aeronomic model, which has been proposed earlier. Undertaken tests support the correctness of the method and validate its applicability. For modeling the planetary wind, we propose a new hydrodynamic model equipped with a phenomenological function of heating by stellar UV radiation. The general flow in this model well agrees with results obtained in more detailed aeronomic models. The proposed model can be used for both methodical purposes and testing the gas-dynamic modules of self-consistent chemical-dynamic models of the planetary wind.

astro-ph.EP

Atmospheric mass loss from hot Jupiters irradiated by stellar superflares

Because of their activity, late-type stars are known to host powerful flares producing intense high-energy radiation on short time-scales that may significantly affect the atmosphere of nearby planets. We employ a one-dimensional aeronomic model to study the reaction of the upper atmosphere of the hot Jupiter HD 209458b to the additional high-energy irradiation caused by a stellar flare. Atmospheric absorption of the additional energy produced during a flare leads to local atmospheric heating, accompanied by the formation of two propagating shock waves. We present estimates of the additional atmospheric loss occurring in response to the flare. We find the mass loss rate at the exobase level to significantly increase (3.8*10^10, 8*10^10, and 3.5*10^11 g s-1 for 10, 100, and 1000 times the high-energy flux of the quiet star, respectively) in comparison to that found considering the inactive star (2*10^10 g s-1).

astro-ph.EP

The influence of stellar flare on dynamical state of the atmosphere of exoplanet HD 209458b

By applying an one-dimensional aeronomic model of the upper atmosphere of the close-in giant planet HD 209458b, we study the reaction of the planetary atmosphere to an additional heating caused by the influence of a stellar flare. It is shown that the absorption of additional energy of the stellar flare in the extreme ultraviolet leads to local atmospheric heating, accompanied by formation of two shock waves, propagating in the atmosphere. We discuss possible observational manifestations of the shocks and feasibility of their detection.

astro-ph.EP

Influence of Photoelectrons on the Structure and Dynamics of the Upper Atmosphere of a Hot Jupiter

A self-consistent, aeronomic model of the upper atmosphere of a "hot Jupiter" including reactions involving suprathermal photoelectrons is presented. This model is used to compute the height profiles of the gas density, velocity, and temperature in the atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 209458b. It is shown that including suprathermal electrons when computing the heating and cooling functions reduces the mass loss rate of the atmosphere by a factor of five.

astro-ph.EP

Characterising exoplanets and their environment with UV transmission spectroscopy

Exoplanet science is now in its full expansion, particularly after the CoRoT and Kepler space missions that led us to the discovery of thousands of extra-solar planets. The last decade has taught us that UV observations play a major role in advancing our understanding of planets and of their host stars, but the necessary UV observations can be carried out only by HST, and this is going to be the case for many years to come. It is therefore crucial to build a treasury data archive of UV exoplanet observations formed by a dozen "golden systems" for which observations will be available from the UV to the infrared. Only in this way we will be able to fully exploit JWST observations for exoplanet science, one of the key JWST science case.

astro-ph.SR

Gas dynamic simulation of the star-planet interaction using a binary star model

We have performed numerical simulations of the interaction between "hot Jupiter" planet and gas of the stellar wind using numerical code developed for investigations of binary stars. With this code we have modeled the structure of the gaseous flow in the system HD 209458. The results have been used to explain observations of this system performed with the COS instrument on-board the HST.

astro-ph.EP

Self - consistent treatment of dynamics and chemistry in the winds from carbon-rich AGB stars. I. Tests of the equilibrium and kinetic chemical codes

The main aim of the paper was performing test of our (chemical and kinetic) codes, which will be used during self-consistent modelling of dynamics and chemistry in the winds from C-rich AGB stars. We use the thermodynamical equilibrium code to test the different databases of dissociation constants. We also calculate the equilibrium content of the gas using the kinetic code, which includes the chemical network of neutral--neutral reactions studied by Willacy & Cherchneff (1998). The influence of reaction rates updated using the UMIST database for Astrochemistry 2005 (UDFA05), was tested. The local thermodynamical equilibrium calculations have shown that the NIST database reproduces fairly well equilibrium concentrations of Willacy & Cherchneff (1998), while agreement in case of Tsuji (1973) dissociation constants is much worse. The most important finding is that the steady state solution obtained with the kinetic code for reaction network of Willacy & Cherchneff (1998) is different from the thermodynamical equilibrium solution. In particular, CN and C2, which are important opacity sources are underabundant relative to hermodynamical equilibrium, while O-bearing molecules (like SiO, H2O, and OH) are overabundant. After updating the reaction rates by data from the UDFA05 database consistency in O-bearing species becomes much better, however the disagreement in C-bearing species is still present.

astro-ph

Titan's Atomic and Molecular Nitrogen Tori

Shematovich et al. (2003) recently showed plasma induced sputtering in Titan's atmosphere is a source of neutral nitrogen in Saturn's magnetosphere comparable to the photo-dissociation source. These sources form a toroidal nitrogen cloud roughly centered at Titan's orbital radius but gravitationally bound to Saturn. Once ionized, these particles contribute to Saturn's plasma. When Titan is inside Saturn's magnetopause, newly formed ions can diffuse inward becoming inner magnetospheric energetic nitrogen where they can sputter and be implanted into icy satellite surfaces. Our 3-D simulation produces the first consistent Titan generated N and N2 neutral clouds; solar UV radiation and magnetospheric plasma subject these particles to dissociation and ionization. The cloud morphologies and associated nitrogen plasma source rates are predicted in anticipation of Cassini data. Since the amount of molecular nitrogen ejected from Titan by photo-dissociation is small, molecular nitrogen ions detection by Cassini will be an indicator of atmospheric sputtering.

physics.space-ph

On the master equation approach to diffusive grain-surface chemistry: the H, O, CO system

We have used the master equation approach to study a moderately complex network of diffusive reactions occurring on the surfaces of interstellar dust particles. This network is meant to apply to dense clouds in which a large portion of the gas-phase carbon has already been converted to carbon monoxide. Hydrogen atoms, oxygen atoms, and CO molecules are allowed to accrete onto dust particles and their chemistry is followed. The stable molecules produced are oxygen, hydrogen, water, carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde (H2CO), and methanol (CH3OH). The surface abundances calculated via the master equation approach are in good agreement with those obtained via a Monte Carlo method but can differ considerably from those obtained with standard rate equations.

astro-ph

A Coupled Dynamical and Chemical Model of Starless Cores of Magnetized Molecular Clouds: I. Formulation and Initial Results

We develop a detailed chemical model for the starless cores of strongly magnetized molecular clouds, with the ambipolar diffusion-driven dynamic evolution of the clouds coupled to the chemistry through ion abundances. We concentrate on two representative model clouds in this initial study, one with magnetic fields and the other without. The model predictions on the peak values and spatial distributions of the column densities of CO, CCS, N$_2$H$^+$ and HCO$^+$ are compared with those observationally inferred for the well-studied starless core L1544, which is thought to be on the verge of star formation. We find that the magnetic model, in which the cloud is magnetically supported for several million years before collapsing dynamically, provides a reasonable overall fit to the available data on L1544; the fit is significantly worse for the non-magnetic model, in which the cloud collapses promptly. The observed large peak column density for N$_2$H$^+$ and clear central depression for CCS favor the magnetically-retarded collapse over the free-fall collapse. A relatively high abundance of CCS is found in the magnetic model, resulting most likely from an interplay of depletion and late-time hydrocarbon chemistry enhanced by CO depletion. These initial results lend some support to the standard picture of dense core formation in strongly magnetized clouds through ambipolar diffusion. They are at variance with those of Aikawa et al. (2001) who considered a set of models somewhat different from ours and preferred one in which the cloud collapses more or less freely for L1544.

astro-ph