Related papers: On stable H-C-N-O compounds at high pressure
The atmospheres of small exoplanets likely derive from a combination of geochemical outgassing and primordial gases left over from formation. Secondary atmospheres, such as those of Earth, Mars and Venus, are sourced by outgassing.…
Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a key feedstock molecule for the production of life's building blocks. The formation of HCN in an N$_2$-rich atmospheres requires first that the triple bond between N$\equiv$N be severed, and then that the atomic…
We present a comprehensive study of the abundance of carbon dioxide in exoplanetary atmospheres in hot, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. We construct novel analytical models of systems in chemical equilibrium that include carbon monoxide,…
The chemical composition of exoplanets is thought to be influenced by the composition of the disks in which they form. JWST observations have unveiled a variety of species in numerous nearby disks, showing significant variations in the C/O…
Water, ethanol, and ammonia are the key components of the mantles of Uranus and Neptune. To improve structure and evolution models and give an explanation of the magnetic fields and luminosities of the icy giants, those components need to…
We explore the chemistry and observability of nitrogen dominated atmospheres for ultra-short-period super-Earths. We base the assumption, that super-Earths could have nitrogen filled atmospheres, on observations of 55 Cnc e that favour a…
The atmospheric chemical composition of a hot Jupiter can lead to insights into where in its natal protoplanetary disk it formed and its subsequent migration pathway. We use a 1-D chemical kinetics code to compute a suite of models across a…
Terrestrial exoplanets likely form initial atmospheres through outgassing during and after accretion, although there is currently no first-principles understanding of how to connect a planet's bulk composition to its early atmospheric…
Observations of transiting gas giant exoplanets have revealed a pervasive depletion of methane, which has only recently been identified atmospherically. The depletion is thought to be maintained by disequilibrium processes such as…
Neutron stars contain matter in one of the densest forms found in the Universe. This feature, together with the unprecedented progress in observational astrophysics, makes such stars superb astrophysical laboratories for a broad range of…
We discuss our current understanding of the interior structure and thermal evolution of giant planets. This includes the gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, as well as the "ice…
Atmospheric chemistry models have shown molecular oxygen can build up in CO2-dominated atmospheres on potentially habitable exoplanets without an input of life. Existing models typically assume a surface pressure of 1 bar. Here we present…
Knowledge of the composition of material that will form planets is crucial to understand planetary diversity and the occurrence of potentially habitable planets. Ultimately, it is the chemistry in circumstellar disks that determines the…
The atmospheric pressure-temperature profiles for transiting giant planets cross a range of chemical transitions. Here we show that the particular shape of these irradiated profiles for warm giant planets below 1300 K lead to striking…
Molecular nitrogen is the most commonly assumed background gas that supports habitability on rocky planets. Despite its chemical inertness, nitrogen molecule is broken by lightning, hot volcanic vents, and bolide impacts, and can be…
The compositions of nascent planets depend on the compositions of their birth disks. In particular, the elemental compositions of Gas Giant gaseous envelopes depend on the elemental composition of the disk gas from which the envelope is…
High-pressure can transform the structures and compositions of materials either by changing the relative strengths of bonds or by altering the oxidation states of atoms. Both effects cause unconventional compositions in novel compounds that…
We have investigated the information content in reflected-starlight spectra of exoplanets. We specify our analysis to Barnard's Star b candidate super-Earth, for which we assume a radius 0.6 times that of Neptune, an atmosphere dominated by…
Several transiting super-Earths are expected to be discovered in the coming few years. While tools to model the interior structure of transiting planets exist, inferences about the composition are fraught with ambiguities. We present a…
Giant planets acquire gas, ices and rocks during the early formation stages of planetary systems and thus inform us on the formation process itself. Proceeding from inside out, examining the connections between the deep interiors and the…