Related papers: Estimating Ion Escape from Unmagnetized Planets
The ion escape of Mars' CO$_2$ atmosphere caused by its dissociation products C and O atoms is {simulated} from present time to $\sim 4.1$ billion years ago (Ga) by {numerical models of the upper atmosphere and its interaction with the…
Rocky planets orbiting M-dwarf stars are prime targets for atmospheric characterization, yet their long-term evolution under intense stellar winds and high-energy radiation remains poorly constrained. The Kepler-1649 system, hosting two…
Modeling the outflow of planetary atmospheres is important for understanding the evolution of exoplanet systems and for interpreting their observations. Modern theoretical models of exoplanet atmospheres become increasingly detailed and…
We model the escape of ionizing radiation from high-redshift galaxies using high-resolution Adaptive Mesh Refinement N-body + hydrodynamics simulations. Our simulations include time-dependent and spatially-resolved transfer of ionizing…
This study investigates the escape of Mercury's sodium-group ions (Na+-group, including ions with m/q from 21 to 30 amu/e) and their dependence on true anomaly angle (TAA), i.e., Mercury's orbital phase around the Sun, using measurements…
Mars lacks a global intrinsic dipole magnetic field, but its interaction with the solar wind generates a global induced magnetosphere. Until now, most studies have relied on single-spacecraft measurements, which could not simultaneously…
The extent to which a magnetosphere protects its planetary atmosphere from stellar wind ablation depends upon how well it prevents energy and momentum exchange with the atmosphere and how well it traps otherwise escaping plasma. We focus on…
Ion fractional charge states, measured in situ in the heliosphere, depend on the properties of the plasma in the inner corona. As the ions travel outward in the solar wind and the electron density drops, the charge states remain essentially…
The recent discovery of an Earth-sized planet (TOI-700 d) in the habitable zone of an early-type M-dwarf by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite constitutes an important advance. In this Letter, we assess the feasibility of this planet…
The outer heliosphere is a dynamic region shaped largely by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. While interplanetary magnetic field and plasma observations by the Voyager spacecraft have significantly…
We investigate the loss rates of the hydrogen atmospheres of terrestrial planets with a range of masses and orbital distances by assuming a stellar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) luminosity that is 100 times stronger than that of the current…
In a two-week period between February and March of 2015, a series of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and (solar energetic particles) SEPs made contact with Mars. The interactions were observed by several spacecraft, including…
Non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) is a key process often times neglected when modeling astrophysical plasmas with thermodynamical timescales much shorter than the timescales for ionization and recombination. In this paper, we perform NEI…
Gas planets in close proximity to their host stars experience photoevaporative mass loss. The energy-limited escape concept is generally used to derive estimates for the planetary mass-loss rates. Our photoionization hydrodynamics…
Soft x-ray emissions induced by solar wind ions that collide with neutral material in the solar system have been detected around planets, and were proposed as a remote probe for the solar wind interaction with the Martian exosphere. A…
Martian bow shocks, the solar wind interacting with an unmagnetized planet, are studied. We theoretically investigated how solar parameters, such as the solar wind dynamic pressure and the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux, influence the…
The absence of global magnetic fields is often cited to explain why Mars lacks a dense atmosphere. This line of thought is based on a prevailing theory that magnetic fields can shield the atmosphere from solar wind erosion. However, we…
Solar wind ion reflection at collisionless shocks regulates foreshock plasma dynamics, yet the quantitative dependence of reflected ion properties on upstream and shock-related parameters remains unclear, causing difficulties in predicting…
Atmospheric escape is considered to be one of the main channels for evolution in sub-Jovian planets, particularly in their early lives. While there are several hypotheses proposed to explain escape in exoplanets, testing them with…
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) driven atmospheric escape is a key process in the atmospheric evolution of close-in exoplanets. In many evolutionary models, the energy-limited mass-loss rate with a constant efficiency (typically $\sim10\%$) is…