Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Effects of Stellar Flares on the Atmospheres of Oxygen-rich Habitable Planets
Authors:
Segura, Antigona; Scalo, J.; Cohen, M.; Kasting, J.; Meadows, V.
Affiliation:
AA(IPAC/Caltech), AB(Department of Astronomy, University of Texas), AC(Radio Astronomy Laboratory, University of California), AD(Department of Geosciences, Penn State University), AE(IPAC/Caltech)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #10.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.493
Publication Date:
09/2006
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2006DPS....38.1002S

Abstract

Flares are sudden and unpredictable releases of energy that range from 1028 erg to 1037erg. All main sequence stars exhibit flare activity that differs in frequency and intensity from star to star. Flare activity is correlated with chromospheric and coronal activity, and is more frequent and intense in young and low-mass stars. We studied the effects of intense recurrent flaring on the photochemistry, climate, and biosignatures of planets with oxygen-rich atmospheres. A variety of synthetic time series' of fluxes consisting of a large number of flares was generated. Each time series consists of a very large number of flares whose properties are sampled from probability distributions derived for solar and stellar flares. We present results from the first step of the study which is to irradiate an Earth-like atmosphere with a single flare strong enough to disrupt the photochemistry. This allows us to learn which reactions limit the recovery to the former steady state, and how this recovery time depends on intensity, duration, and spectral distribution. The next step will use a series of flares that are exactly periodic, to find the time between flares below which return to steady state does not occur. This work will be followed by irradiation by a realistic synthetic times series of flares.

This material is based upon work supported by: the NASA UPN-RTOP-188-07-55-08 issued through the Terrestrial Planet Finder Foundation Science Program, the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Virtual Planetary Laboratory Lead Team, supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the NASA Astrobiology Institute under Cooperative Agreement Number CAN-00-OSS-01, the NASA Exobiology Grant No. NNG04GK43G, and the TPF/FS Grant No. NNG04GL49G with UC Berkeley.

Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints