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Orbital phase-dependent variations in thermal emission and reflected stellar energy spectra can provide meaningful constraints on the climate states of terrestrial extrasolar planets orbiting M dwarf stars. Spatial distributions of water…
The oxidation of rocky planet surfaces and atmospheres, which arises from the twin forces of stellar nucleosynthesis and gravitational differentiation, is a universal process of key importance to habitability and exoplanet biosignature…
Conventional planet formation theory suggests that chondritic materials have delivered crucial atmospheric and hydrospheric elements such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) onto primitive Earth. However, recent measurements…
Energy limits that delineate the `habitable zone' for exoplanets depend on a given exoplanet's net planetary albedo (or `Bond albedo'). We here demonstrate that the planetary albedo of an observed exoplanet is limited by the above-cloud…
Synchronously orbiting, tidally-locked exoplanets with a dayside facing their star and a permanently dark nightside orbiting dim stars are prime candidates for habitability. Simulations of these planets often show the potential to maintain…
Atmospheric mass loss is a fundamental phenomenon shaping the structure and evolution of planetary atmospheres. It can engage processes ranging from global interactions with the host star and large-scale hydrodynamic outflows to essentially…
We are interested in the influence of cloudy atmospheres on the thermal radius evolution of warm exoplanets from an interior modelling perspective. By applying a physically motivated but simple parameterized cloud model, we obtain the…
Planets and their atmospheres are built from gas and solid material in protoplanetary disks. Recent results suggest that solid material like pebbles may contribute significantly to building up planetary atmospheres. In order to link…
In the past 15 years, astronomers have revealed that a significant fraction of the stars should harbor planets and that it is likely that terrestrial planets are abundant in our galaxy. Among these planets, how many are habitable, i.e.…
The habitability of terrestrial exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs is a key topic in the search for extraterrestrial life. The climates of these planets differ significantly from the Earth's due to their likely tidal locking, resulting in a…
Plate tectonics is a fundamental component for the habitability of the Earth. Yet whether it is a recurrent feature of terrestrial bodies orbiting other stars or unique to the Earth is unknown. The stagnant lid may rather be the most common…
More than two dozen short-period Jupiter-mass gas giant planets have been discovered around nearby solar-type stars in recent years, several of which undergo transits, making them ideal for the detection and characterization of their…
Protoplanets are able to accrete primordial atmospheres when embedded in the gaseous protoplanetary disk. The formation and structure of the proto-atmosphere are subject to the planet--disk environment and orbital effects. Especially, when…
Carbonate-silicate weathering feedback is thought to stabilize Earth's climate on geologic timescales. If climate warms, faster mineral dissolution and increased rainfall speed up weathering, increasing CO2 drawdown and opposing the initial…
The evolution and structure of sub-Neptunes may be strongly influenced by interactions between the outer gaseous envelope of the planet and a surface magma ocean. However, given the wide variety of permissible interior structures of these…
Rocky planets hosted by close-in extrasolar systems are likely to be tidally locked in 1:1 spin-orbit resonance, a configuration where they exhibit permanent dayside and nightside. Because of the resulting day-night temperature gradient,…
The habitable zone is the region around a star where standing bodies of liquid water can be stable on a planetary surface. Its width is often assumed to be dictated by the efficiency of the carbonate-silicate cycle, which has maintained…
(Abridged) Exoplanet atmospheres are thought be built up from accretion of gas as well as pebbles and planetesimals in the midplanes of planet-forming disks. The chemical composition of this material is usually assumed to be unchanged…
Atmospheric escape is an important process that influences the evolution of planetary atmospheres. A variety of physical mechanisms can contribute to escape from an atmosphere, including thermal escape, ion escape, photochemical escape, and…
The heavy element content of giant exoplanets, inferred from structure models based on their radius and mass, often exceeds predictions based on classical core accretion. Pebble drift, coupled with volatile evaporation, has been proposed as…