Heating of the Atmospheres of Short-orbit Exoplanets by Their Rapid Orbital Motion Through an Extreme Space Environment. (arXiv:2401.14459v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cohen_O/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ofer Cohen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Glocer_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alex Glocer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Garraffo_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cecilia Garraffo</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Alvarado_Gomez_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Julian Alvarado-Gomez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Drake_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jeremy Drake</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Monsch_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kristina Monsch</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Puigdomenech_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Farah Fauth Puigdomenech</a>
Exoplanets with short orbit period reside very close to their host stars.
They transition very rapidly between different sectors of the circumstellar
space environment along their orbit, leading to large variations of the
magnetic field in the vicinity of the planet on short timescales. This rapid
change of the magnetic flux through the conducting and resistive layer of the
planetary upper atmosphere may drive currents that dissipate in the form of
Joule Heating. Here, we estimate the amount of Joule Heating dissipation in the
upper atmosphere of Trappist-1e, and two hypothetical planets orbiting the Sun
in close-in orbits. We find that the rapid orbital motion could drive a
significant amount of atmospheric heating and could significantly affect the
planetary atmosphere escape rate. Thus, the process should be accounted for
when studying the long-term evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres.
Exoplanets with short orbit period reside very close to their host stars.
They transition very rapidly between different sectors of the circumstellar
space environment along their orbit, leading to large variations of the
magnetic field in the vicinity of the planet on short timescales. This rapid
change of the magnetic flux through the conducting and resistive layer of the
planetary upper atmosphere may drive currents that dissipate in the form of
Joule Heating. Here, we estimate the amount of Joule Heating dissipation in the
upper atmosphere of Trappist-1e, and two hypothetical planets orbiting the Sun
in close-in orbits. We find that the rapid orbital motion could drive a
significant amount of atmospheric heating and could significantly affect the
planetary atmosphere escape rate. Thus, the process should be accounted for
when studying the long-term evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres.
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