Related papers: Mass loss by atmospheric escape from extremely clo…
Atmospheric escape is key to explaining the long-term evolution of planets in our Solar System and beyond, and in the interpretation of atmospheric measurements. Hydrodynamic escape is generally thought to be driven by the flux of extreme…
Planetary habitability is in part determined by the atmospheric evolution of a planet; one key component of such evolution is escape of heavy ions to space. Ion loss processes are sensitive to the plasma environment of the planet, dictated…
We have recently hit the milestone of 5,000 exoplanets discovered. In stark contrast with the Solar System, most of the exoplanets we know to date orbit extremely close to their host stars, causing them to lose copious amounts of gas…
Photoionization heating from UV radiation incident on the atmospheres of hot Jupiters may drive planetary mass loss. We construct a model of escape that includes realistic heating and cooling, ionization balance, tidal gravity, and pressure…
We study the interactions between the stellar wind plasma flow of a typical M star, such as GJ 436, and hydrogen-rich upper atmospheres of an Earth-like planet and a "super-Earth" with the radius of 2 R_Earth and a mass of 10 M_Earth,…
The K2-33 planetary system hosts one transiting ~5 R_E planet orbiting the young M-type host star. The planet's mass is still unknown, with an estimated upper limit of 5.4 M_J. The extreme youth of the system (<20 Myr) gives the…
Planetary mass loss is governed by several physical mechanisms, including photoionisation that may impact the evolution of the atmosphere. Stellar radiation energy deposited as heat depends strongly on the energy of the primary electrons…
When exposed to the high energy X-ray and ultraviolet radiation of a very active star, water vapor in the upper atmospheres of planets can be photodissociated and rapidly lost to space. In this paper, I study the chemical, thermal, and…
We employ planetary evolution modeling to reproduce the MR distribution of the 198 so far detected planets with mass and radius measured to the <45% and <15% level, respectively, and less massive than 108Me. We simultaneously account for…
Absorption of high-energy radiation in planetary thermospheres is believed to lead to the formation of planetary winds. The resulting mass-loss rates can affect the evolution, particularly of small gas planets. We present 1D, spherically…
Recent observations and analysis of low mass (<10$M_{\oplus}$), exoplanets have found that rocky planets only have radii up to 1.5-2$R_{\oplus}$. Two general hypotheses exist for the cause of the dichotomy between rocky and gas-enveloped…
The atmospheres of small, close-in exoplanets are vulnerable to rapid mass-loss during protoplanetary disc dispersal via a process referred to as `boil-off', in which confining pressure from the local gas disc reduces, inducing atmospheric…
To describe the evaporation status of the extrasolar planets, we propose to consider an energy diagram in which the potential energy of the planets is plotted versus the energy received by the upper atmosphere. Here we present a basic…
Because of their activity, late-type stars are known to host powerful flares producing intense high-energy radiation on short time-scales that may significantly affect the atmosphere of nearby planets. We employ a one-dimensional aeronomic…
Water photolysis and hydrogen loss from the upper atmospheres of terrestrial planets is of fundamental importance to climate evolution but remains poorly understood in general. Here we present a range of calculations we performed to study…
Stellar high-energy radiation (X-ray and extreme ultraviolet, XUV) drives atmospheric escape in close-in exoplanets. Given that stellar irradiation depends on the stellar magnetism and that stars have magnetic cycles, we investigate how…
In the present chapter we present the results of evolutionary studies of exoplanetary atmospheres. We mostly focus on the sub- to super-Earth domain, although these methods are applicable to all types of exoplanets. We consider both thermal…
A critically important process affecting the climate evolution and potential habitability of an exoplanet is atmospheric escape, in which high-energy radiation from a star drives the escape of hydrogen atoms and other light elements from a…
Data suggest that most rocky exoplanets with orbital period $p$ $<$ 100 d ("hot" rocky exoplanets) formed as gas-rich sub-Neptunes that subsequently lost most of their envelopes, but whether these rocky exoplanets still have atmospheres is…
Planetary embryos form protoplanets via mutual collisions, which can lead to the development of magma oceans. During their solidification, large amounts of the mantles' volatile contents may be outgassed. The resulting H$_2$O/CO$_2$…