Energy Budgets for Terrestrial Extrasolar Planets (The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2019)
VPL Authors
Full Citation:
Shields, A. L., Bitz, C. M., & Palubski, I. (2019). Energy Budgets for Terrestrial Extrasolar Planets. The Astrophysical Journal, 884(1), L2. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab44ce
Abstract:
The pathways through which incoming energy is distributed between the surface and atmosphere have been analyzed for the Earth. However, the effect of the spectral energy distribution of a host star on the energy budget of an orbiting planet may be significant given the wavelength-dependent absorption properties of atmospheric CO2, water vapor, surface ice, and snow. We have quantified the flow of energy on aqua planets orbiting M-, G-, and F-dwarf stars, using a 3D Global Climate Model with a static ocean. The atmosphere and surface of an M-dwarf planet receiving an instellation equal to 88% of the modern solar constant at the top of the atmosphere absorb 12% more incoming stellar radiation than those of a G-dwarf planet receiving 100% of the modern solar constant, and 17% more radiation than an F-dwarf planet receiving 108% of the modern solar constant, resulting in climates similar to that of modern-day Earth on all three planets, assuming a 24 hr rotation period and fixed CO2. At 100% instellation, a synchronously rotating M-dwarf planet exhibits smaller flux absorption in the atmosphere and on the surface of the dayside, and a dayside mean surface temperature that is 37 K colder than its rapidly rotating counterpart. Energy budget diagrams are included to illustrate the variations in global energy budgets as a function of host star spectral class, and can contribute to habitability assessments of planets as they are discovered.
URL:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab44ce/meta
VPL Research Tasks:
Task C: The Habitable Planet