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Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1
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Wheatley, Peter J., Louden, Tom M., Bourrier, Vincent, Ehrenreich, David and Gillon, Michaël (2017) Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society : Letters, 465 (1). L74-L78. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slw192 ISSN 1745-3925.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slw192
Abstract
We present an XMM-Newton X-ray observation of TRAPPIST-1, which is an ultracool dwarf star recently discovered to host three transiting and temperate Earth-sized planets. We find the star is a relatively strong and variable coronal X-ray source with an X-ray luminosity similar to that of the quiet Sun, despite its much lower bolometric luminosity.
We find L_X/L_bol=2-4x10^-4, with the total XUV emission in the range L_XUV/L_bol=6-9x10^-4,
and XUV irradiation of the planets that is many times stronger than experienced by the present-day Earth.
Using a simple energy-limited model we show that the relatively close-in Earth-sized planets, which span the classical habitable zone of the star, are subject to sufficient X-ray and EUV irradiation to significantly alter their primary and any secondary atmospheres. Understanding whether this high-energy irradiation makes the planets more or less habitable is a complex question, but our measured fluxes will be an important input to the necessary models of atmospheric evolution.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy | ||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Dwarf star, Cool stars, Planets -- Atmospheres , Stars -- Atmospheres | ||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society : Letters | ||||||||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||||||||
ISSN: | 1745-3925 | ||||||||||
Official Date: | 11 February 2017 | ||||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 465 | ||||||||||
Number: | 1 | ||||||||||
Page Range: | L74-L78 | ||||||||||
DOI: | 10.1093/mnrasl/slw192 | ||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 15 December 2016 | ||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 15 December 2016 | ||||||||||
Funder: | Science and Technology Facilities Council (Great Britain) (STFC), Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung [Swiss National Science Foundation] (SNSF) | ||||||||||
Grant number: | ST/L000733/1 | ||||||||||
Open Access Version: |
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