相关论文: Thermally driven escape from Pluto's atmosphere: A…

We analyze two multi-chord stellar occultations by Pluto observed on July 18th, 2012 and May 4th, 2013, and monitored respectively from five and six sites. They provide a total of fifteen light-curves, twelve of them being used for a…

The Kepler satellite has revealed a gap between sub-Neptunes and super-Earths that atmospheric escape models had predicted as an evaporation valley. We seek to contrast results from a simple XUV-driven energy-limited (ELIM) escape model…

Atmospheric chemistry models have shown molecular oxygen can build up in CO2-dominated atmospheres on potentially habitable exoplanets without an input of life. Existing models typically assume a surface pressure of 1 bar. Here we present…

Remote sensing observations indicate that Europa is surrounded by a tenuous atmosphere. Furthermore, recent observations and historic data from Galileo hint at the occurrence of water vapour eruptions originating from the interior that…

Atmospheric characterisation of temperate sub-Neptunes is the new frontier of exoplanetary science with recent JWST observations of possible Hycean world K2-18b. Accurate modelling of atmospheric processes is essential to interpreting…

We explore atmospheric escape from close-in exoplanets with the highest mass loss rates. First, we locate the transition from stellar X-ray and UV-driven escape to rapid Roche lobe overflow, which occurs once the 10-100 nbar pressure level…

Data from the Voyager probes and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer have revealed the importance of pick-up ions (PUIs) in understanding the character and behavior of the outer heliosphere, the region of interaction between the solar wind…

In the core accretion paradigm of planet formation, gas giants only form a massive atmosphere after their progenitors exceeded a threshold mass: the critical core mass. Most (exo)planets, being smaller and rock/ice-dominated, never crossed…

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…

We propose a new method to estimate ion escape from unmagnetized planets that combines observations and models. Assuming that upstream solar wind conditions are known, a computer model of the interaction between the solar wind and the…

Context: The thermal and chemical structures of the upper atmospheres of planets crucially influence losses to space and must be understood to constrain the effects of losses on atmospheric evolution. Aims: We develop a 1D first-principles…

One significant difference between the atmospheres of stars and exoplanets is the presence of condensed particles (clouds or hazes) in the atmosphere of the latter. The main goal of this paper is to develop a self-consistent microphysical…

Atmospheric circulation on tidally-locked exoplanets is driven by the absorption and reradiation of heat from the host star. They are natural heat engines, converting heat into mechanical energy. A steady state is possible only if there is…

The results of three-dimensional numerical simulations of the gas dynamics of the atmosphere of a "hot Jupiter" exoplanet during the passage of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the central star are presented. These computations assumed…

Kinetic Riemann simulations have been completed to explore particle heating during guide field reconnection in the low-$\beta$ environment of the inner heliosphere and the solar corona. The reconnection exhaust is bounded by two rotational…

Atmospheric escape driven by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is a critical process shaping the evolution of close-in exoplanets. Recent observations have detected helium triplet absorption in numerous (>20) close-in exoplanets,…

The atmospheres of small exoplanets likely derive from a combination of geochemical outgassing and primordial gases left over from formation. Secondary atmospheres, such as those of Earth, Mars and Venus, are sourced by outgassing.…

We present results from a multi-chord Pluto stellar occultation observed on 29 June 2015 from New Zealand and Australia. This occurred only two weeks before the NASA New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system and serves as a useful comparison…

The internal composition of sub-Neptunes remains a prominent unresolved question in exoplanetary science. We present a technique to place constraints on envelope mean molecular weight that utilises observations of escaping hydrogen or…

(Abridged) The upper atmospheres of close-in gas giant exoplanets are subjected to intense heating/tidal forces from their parent stars. Atomic/ionized hydrogen (H) layers are sufficiently rarefied that magnetic pressure may dominate gas…