Related papers: Cosmic Rays near Proxima Centauri b
A planet orbiting in the "habitable zone" of our closest neighboring star, Proxima Centauri, has recently been discovered, and the next natural question is whether or not Proxima b is "habitable". Stellar winds are likely a source of…
A new planet has been recently discovered around Proxima Centauri. With an orbital separation of $\sim$$1.44$ au and a minimum mass of about $7$ $M_{\oplus}$, Proxima c is a prime direct imaging target for atmospheric characterization. The…
Close-in planets orbiting around low-mass stars are exposed to intense energetic photon and particle radiation and harsh space weather. We have modeled such conditions for Proxima Centauri b (Garraffo et al. 2016b), a rocky planet orbiting…
Cosmic rays can penetrate planetary atmospheres driving the formation of prebiotic molecules, which are important for the origin of life. We calculate the Galactic cosmic ray fluxes in the habitable zone of five nearby, well-studied…
Due to its Earth-like minimum mass of 1.27 M$_{\text{E}}$ and its close proximity to our Solar system, Proxima Centauri b is one of the most interesting exoplanets for habitability studies. Its host star, Proxima Centauri, is however a…
We report Spitzer Space Telescope observations during predicted transits of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b. As the nearest terrestrial habitable-zone planet we will ever discover, any potential transit of Proxima b would place strong…
Proxima Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor and one of the most well-studied stars in the sky. In 2016, a planetary companion was detected through radial velocity measurements. Proxima Centauri b has a minimum mass of 1.3 Earth masses…
The field of exoplanetary science has seen discovery rates increase dramatically over recent years, due largely to the data from the Kepler mission. Even so, individual discoveries of planets orbiting nearby stars are very important for…
Magnetically active stars possess stellar winds whose interaction with planetary magnetic fields produces radio auroral emission. We examine the detectability of radio auroral emission from Proxima b, the closest known exosolar planet…
Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of our nearest stellar neighbour, has just been discovered. A theoretical framework of synchronously rotating planets, in which the risk of a runaway greenhouse on the sunlight…
The propagation of Galactic cosmic rays is well understood in the context of the solar system but is poorly studied for M dwarf systems. Quantifying the flux of cosmic rays reaching exoplanets is important since cosmic rays are relevant in…
We examine the feasibility of detecting auroral emission from the potentially habitable exoplanet Proxima Centauri b. Detection of aurorae would yield an independent confirmation of the planet's existence, constrain the presence and…
Our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri, is a low mass star with spectral typedM5.5 and hosting an Earth-like planet orbiting within its habitable zone. However, the habitability of the planet depends on the high-energy radiation of…
The habitability of exoplanets hosted by M-dwarf stars dramatically depends on their space weather. We present 3D magneto-hydrodynamic simulations to characterise the magneto-plasma environment and thus the habitability of the Earth-like…
The discovery of Proxima b, a terrestrial temperate planet, presents the opportunity of studying a potentially habitable world in optimal conditions. A key aspect to model its habitability is to understand the radiation environment of the…
(abridged abstract) Theoretical arguments indicate that close-in terrestial exoplanets may have weak magnetic fields, especially in the case of planets more massive than Earth (super-Earths). Planetary magnetic fields, however, constitute…
(Abridged) Cosmic rays (CRs) are thought to provide an important source of ionization in the outermost and densest regions of protoplanetary disks; however, it is unknown to what degree they are physically present. As is observed in the…
In this paper, we have provided an overview of cosmic ray effects on terrestrial processes such as electrical properties, global electric circuit, lightning, cloud formation, cloud coverage, atmospheric temperature, space weather phenomena,…
Proxima b is a planet with a minimum mass of 1.3 MEarth orbiting within the habitable zone (HZ) of Proxima Centauri, a very low-mass, active star and the Sun's closest neighbor. Here we investigate a number of factors related to the…
We present results from the most comprehensive radio monitoring campaign towards the closest star to our Sun, Proxima Centauri. We report 1.1 to 3.1 GHz observations with the Australian Telescope Compact Array over 18 consecutive days in…