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Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability

We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H(2)O, CO(2)) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 M(⊕) orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the habitable zone of a young active solar-like star. We apply a radiation absorption and hydrodyna...

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Autores principales: Lammer, Helmut, Schiefer, Sonja-Charlotte, Juvan, Ines, Odert, Petra, Erkaev, Nikolai V., Weber, Christof, Kislyakova, Kristina G., Güdel, Manuel, Kirchengast, Gottfried, Hanslmeier, Arnold
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4669541/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25515344
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-014-9377-2
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author Lammer, Helmut
Schiefer, Sonja-Charlotte
Juvan, Ines
Odert, Petra
Erkaev, Nikolai V.
Weber, Christof
Kislyakova, Kristina G.
Güdel, Manuel
Kirchengast, Gottfried
Hanslmeier, Arnold
author_facet Lammer, Helmut
Schiefer, Sonja-Charlotte
Juvan, Ines
Odert, Petra
Erkaev, Nikolai V.
Weber, Christof
Kislyakova, Kristina G.
Güdel, Manuel
Kirchengast, Gottfried
Hanslmeier, Arnold
author_sort Lammer, Helmut
collection PubMed
description We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H(2)O, CO(2)) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 M(⊕) orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the habitable zone of a young active solar-like star. We apply a radiation absorption and hydrodynamic upper atmosphere model to the three studied exomoon cases. We model the escape of hydrogen and dragged dissociation products O and C during the activity saturation phase of the young host star. Because the soft X-ray and EUV radiation of the young host star may be up to ~100 times higher compared to today’s solar value during the first 100 Myr after the system’s origin, an exomoon with a mass < 0.25 M(⊕) located in the HZ may not be able to keep an atmosphere because of its low gravity. Depending on the spectral type and XUV activity evolution of the host star, exomoons with masses between ~0.25 and 0.5 M(⊕) may evolve to Mars-like habitats. More massive bodies with masses >0.5 M(⊕), however, may evolve to habitats that are a mixture of Mars-like and Earth-analogue habitats, so that life may originate and evolve at the exomoon’s surface.
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spelling pubmed-46695412015-12-14 Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability Lammer, Helmut Schiefer, Sonja-Charlotte Juvan, Ines Odert, Petra Erkaev, Nikolai V. Weber, Christof Kislyakova, Kristina G. Güdel, Manuel Kirchengast, Gottfried Hanslmeier, Arnold Orig Life Evol Biosph Astrobiology We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H(2)O, CO(2)) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 M(⊕) orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the habitable zone of a young active solar-like star. We apply a radiation absorption and hydrodynamic upper atmosphere model to the three studied exomoon cases. We model the escape of hydrogen and dragged dissociation products O and C during the activity saturation phase of the young host star. Because the soft X-ray and EUV radiation of the young host star may be up to ~100 times higher compared to today’s solar value during the first 100 Myr after the system’s origin, an exomoon with a mass < 0.25 M(⊕) located in the HZ may not be able to keep an atmosphere because of its low gravity. Depending on the spectral type and XUV activity evolution of the host star, exomoons with masses between ~0.25 and 0.5 M(⊕) may evolve to Mars-like habitats. More massive bodies with masses >0.5 M(⊕), however, may evolve to habitats that are a mixture of Mars-like and Earth-analogue habitats, so that life may originate and evolve at the exomoon’s surface. Springer Netherlands 2014-12-17 2014 /pmc/articles/PMC4669541/ /pubmed/25515344 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-014-9377-2 Text en © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
spellingShingle Astrobiology
Lammer, Helmut
Schiefer, Sonja-Charlotte
Juvan, Ines
Odert, Petra
Erkaev, Nikolai V.
Weber, Christof
Kislyakova, Kristina G.
Güdel, Manuel
Kirchengast, Gottfried
Hanslmeier, Arnold
Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title_full Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title_fullStr Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title_full_unstemmed Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title_short Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability
title_sort origin and stability of exomoon atmospheres: implications for habitability
topic Astrobiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4669541/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25515344
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-014-9377-2
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