Searching for Atmospheric Bioindicators in Planets around the Two Nearby Stars, Proxima Centauri and Epsilon Eridani—Test Cases for Retrieval of Atmospheric Gases with Infrared Spectroscopy
[en] We tested the ability of thermal infrared spectroscopy to retrieve assumed atmospheric compositions for different types of planets orbiting Proxima Centauri and Epsilon Eridani. Six cases are considered, covering a range of atmospheric compositions and some diversity in the bulk composition (rocky, water ocean, hydrogen rich) and the spectral type of the parent star (M and K stars). For some cases, we applied coupled climate chemistry, or climate-only calculations; for other cases, we assumed the atmospheric composition, ground temperature, and surface reflectivity. The IR emission was then calculated from line-by-line radiative transfer models and used to investigate retrieval of input atmospheric species. For the six cases considered, no false positive of the triple bioindicator (H[SUB]2[/SUB]O, CO[SUB]2[/SUB], and O[SUB]2[/SUB], in specified conditions) was found. In some cases, results show that the simultaneous acquisition of a visible spectrum would be valuable, for example, when CO[SUB]2[/SUB] is very abundant and its 9.4 μm satellite band hides the 9.6 μm O[SUB]3[/SUB] band in the IR. In each case, determining the mass appears mandatory to identify the planet's nature and have an idea of surface conditions, which are necessary when testing for the presence of life.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Léger, A.; Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), University of Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France. ; Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), CNRS, Orsay, France
Defrere, Denis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > CSL (Centre Spatial de Liège)
García Muñoz, A.; Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (ZAA), Berlin Institute of Technology (TUB), Berlin, Germany
Godolt, M.; Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (ZAA), Berlin Institute of Technology (TUB), Berlin, Germany
Grenfell, J. L.; Department of Exoplanets and Atmospheres (EPA), German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin, Germany
Rauer, H.; Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (ZAA), Berlin Institute of Technology (TUB), Berlin, Germany. ; Department of Exoplanets and Atmospheres (EPA), German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin, Germany. ; Institute of Geological Sciences, Free University of Berlin (FUB), Berlin, Germany
Tian, F.; Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China)
Language :
English
Title :
Searching for Atmospheric Bioindicators in Planets around the Two Nearby Stars, Proxima Centauri and Epsilon Eridani—Test Cases for Retrieval of Atmospheric Gases with Infrared Spectroscopy
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