Related papers: Exploring terrestrial lightning parameterisations …
We use thermodynamic calculations to model atmospheric chemistry on terrestrial exoplanets that are hot enough for chemical equilibira between the atmosphere and lithosphere, as on Venus. The results of our calculations place constraints on…
In the last few years astronomical surveys have expanded the reach of planetary science into the realm of small and dense extrasolar worlds. These share a number of characteristics with the terrestrial and icy planetary objects of the Solar…
CoRoT has detected by transit several tens of objects whose radii run from 1.67 Earth radius. Their mass run from less than 5.7 Earth mass (CoRoT-24 b, Alonso et al. 2014) to 63 Jupiter mass (CoRoT-15 b, Bouchy et al. 2011). One could be…
The characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres has come of age in the last decade, as astronomical techniques now allow for albedos, chemical abundances, temperature profiles and maps, rotation periods and even wind speeds to be measured.…
Atmospheric electrification is not a purely terrestrial phenomenon: all Solar System planetary atmospheres become slightly electrified by cosmic ray ionisation. There is evidence for lightning on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and it…
Magnetic fields of exoplanets are important in shielding the planets from cosmic rays and interplanetary plasma. Due to the interaction with the electrons from their host stars, the exoplanetary magnetospheres are predicted to have both…
The tidal heating of hypothetical rocky (or terrestrial) extra-solar planets spans a wide range of values depending on stellar masses and initial orbits. Tidal heating may be sufficiently large (in many cases, in excess of radiogenic…
In this paper we consider the magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling at Jupiter-like exoplanets with internal plasma sources such as volcanic moons, and we have determined the best candidates for detection of these radio emissions by…
One of the most debated subjects in Astronomy since the discovery of exoplanets is how can we distinguish the most massive of such objects from very-low mass stars like Brown Dwarfs (BDs)? We have been looking for evidences of a difference…
A number of transiting, potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets have recently been detected around several nearby M dwarf stars. These worlds represent important targets for atmospheric characterization for the upcoming NASA James Webb…
It is now recognized that energetic stellar photon and particle radiation evaporates and erodes planetary atmospheres and controls upper atmospheric chemistry. Key exoplanet host stars will be too faint at X-ray wavelengths for accurate…
Tremendous progress in the science of extrasolar planets has been achieved since the discovery of a Jupiter orbiting the nearby Sun-like star 51 Pegasi in 1995. Theoretical models have now reached enough maturity to predict the…
H$_3^+$ emission is the dominant cooling mechanism in Jupiter's thermosphere and a useful probe of temperature and ion densities. The H$_3^+$ ion is predicted to form in the thermospheres of close-in `hot Jupiters' where its emission would…
The atmospheres of exoplanets reveal all their properties beyond mass, radius, and orbit. Based on bulk densities, we know that exoplanets larger than 1.5 Earth radii must have gaseous envelopes, hence atmospheres. We discuss contemporary…
Electric discharges were detected directly in the cloudy atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, are debatable for Venus, and indirectly inferred for Neptune and Uranus in our solar system. Sprites (and other types of transient luminous…
Observations of auroras on exoplanets would provide numerous insights into planet-star systems, including potential detections of the planetary magnetic fields, constraints on host-star wind properties, and information on the thermal…
Many questions have to be answered before understanding the relationship between the emerging magnetic flux through the solar surface and the extreme geoeffective events. Which threshold determines the onset of the eruption? What is the…
One of the promising methods to search for life on extra-solar planets (exoplanets) is to detect life's signatures in their atmospheres. Spectra of exoplanet atmospheres at the modest resolution needed to search for oxygen, carbon dioxide,…
Recent Juno observations have greatly extended the temporal and spatial coverage of lightning detection on Jupiter. We use these data to constrain a model of moist convection and lightning generation in Jupiter's atmosphere, and derive a…
When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental step to establish a classification for them, such as for…