Related papers: The Maximum Mass-Loss Efficiency for a Photoioniza…
Atmospheric escape is now considered the major contributing factor in shaping the demographic of detected exoplanets. However, inferences about the exoplanet populations strongly depend on the accuracy of the models. Direct observational…
Close-in hot Jupiters are exposed to a tremendous photon flux that ionizes the neutral escaping material from the planet leaving an observable imprint that makes them an interesting laboratory for testing theoretical models. In this work we…
Super-puffs are planets with exceptionally low densities ($\rho \lesssim 0.1$~g~cm$^{-3}$) and core masses ($M_c \lesssim 5 M_\oplus$). Many lower-mass ($M_p\lesssim10M_\oplus$) super-puffs are expected to be unstable to catastrophic mass…
We use Keck/NIRSPEC to survey a sample of of young ($<$1 Gyr), short period mini Neptunes orbiting nearby K dwargs to measure their mass loss via the metastable helium line. We detect helium absorption from all four of the targets in our…
The He I line at 1.08 $\mu$m is a valuable tracer of atmospheric escape in exoplanet atmospheres. We expand past networks used to predict the absorbing He(2$^3S$) by including, firstly, processes that involve H$_2$ and some molecular ions…
Exoplanets at small orbital distances from their host stars are submitted to intense levels of energetic radiations, X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Depending on the masses and densities of the planets and on the atmospheric heating…
Context: The energy-limited (EL) atmospheric escape approach is used to estimate mass-loss rates for a broad range of planets that host hydrogen-dominated atmospheres as well as for performing atmospheric evolution calculations. Aims: We…
We search for escaping helium from the hot super Earth 55 Cnc e by taking high-resolution spectra of the 1083 nm line during two transits using Keck/NIRSPEC. We detect no helium absorption down to a 90\% upper limit of 250 ppm in excess…
Atmospheric escape is thought to significantly influence the evolution of exoplanets, especially for sub-Jupiter planets on short orbital periods. Theoretical models predict that hydrodynamic escape could erode the atmospheres of such…
We investigate the solar wind energy flux in the inner heliosphere using 12-day observations around each perihelion of Encounter One (E01), Two (E02), Four (E04), and Five (E05) of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), respectively, with a minimum…
The hot Jupiter WASP-80b has been identified as a possible excellent target for detecting and measuring HeI absorption in the upper atmosphere. We observed 4 primary transits of WASP-80b in the optical and near-IR using the HARPS-N and…
Hot Jupiters orbiting extremely close to their host star may experience atmospheric escape due to the large amounts of high-energy radiation they receive. Understanding the conditions under which this occurs is critical, as atmospheric…
We present a method to quantify the upper-limit of the energy transmitted from the intense stellar wind to the upper atmospheres of three of the Trappist-1 planets (e, f, and g). We use a formalism that treats the system as two…
Extremely low-density exoplanets are tantalizing targets for atmospheric characterization because of their promisingly large signals in transmission spectroscopy. We present the first analysis of the atmosphere of the lowest-density gas…
Detecting heavy atoms in the inflated atmospheres of giant exoplanets that orbit close to their parent stars is a key factor for understanding their bulk composition, and the processes that drive their expansion and interaction with the…
We present a three-species multi-fluid MHD model (H$^+$, H$_2$O$^+$ and e$^-$), endowed with the requisite atmospheric chemistry, that is capable of accurately quantifying the magnitude of water ion losses from exoplanets. We apply this…
Aims. In this letter, we calculate for the first time the full transonic hydrodynamic escape of an Earth-like atmosphere. We consider the case of an Earth-mass planet with an atmospheric composition identical to that of the current Earth…
Photoevaporative mass-loss rates are expected to be highest when planets are young and the host star is more active, but to date there have been relatively few measurements of mass-loss rates for young gas giant exoplanets. In this study we…
We present a semi-analytic model atmosphere for close-in exoplanets that captures the essential physics of phase curves: orbital and viewing geometry, advection, and re-radiation. We calibrate the model with the well-characterized…
The helium absorption triplet at a wavelength of 10,833 \AA\ has been proposed as a way to probe the escaping atmospheres of exoplanets. Recently this feature was detected for the first time using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3…