THE INTERACTION OF VENUS-LIKE, M-DWARF PLANETS WITH THE STELLAR WIND OF THEIR HOST STAR
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St. Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (United States)
- NASA/GSFC, Code 673 Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Center for Planetary Atmospheres and Flight Sciences, National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA 23666 (United States)
- Center for Space Environment Modeling, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
We study the interaction between the atmospheres of Venus-like, non-magnetized exoplanets orbiting an M-dwarf star, and the stellar wind using a multi-species MHD model. We focus our investigation on the effect of enhanced stellar wind and enhanced EUV flux as the planetary distance from the star decreases. Our simulations reveal different topologies of the planetary space environment for sub- and super-Alfvénic stellar wind conditions, which could lead to dynamic energy deposition into the atmosphere during the transition along the planetary orbit. We find that the stellar wind penetration for non-magnetized planets is very deep, up to a few hundreds of kilometers. We estimate a lower limit for the atmospheric mass-loss rate and find that it is insignificant over the lifetime of the planet. However, we predict that when accounting for atmospheric ion acceleration, a significant amount of the planetary atmosphere could be eroded over the course of a billion years.
- OSTI ID:
- 22522333
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 806, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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