The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided the first opportunity of studying the atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets and estimating their surface conditions. Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars are currently inaccessible with JWST, however, and will have to be observed using the next...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astronomical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acfe12 |
| _version_ | 1797655780294393856 |
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| author | Colby M. Ostberg Scott D. Guzewich Stephen R. Kane Erika Kohler Luke D. Oman Thomas J. Fauchez Ravi K. Kopparapu Jacob Richardson Patrick Whelley |
| author_facet | Colby M. Ostberg Scott D. Guzewich Stephen R. Kane Erika Kohler Luke D. Oman Thomas J. Fauchez Ravi K. Kopparapu Jacob Richardson Patrick Whelley |
| author_sort | Colby M. Ostberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided the first opportunity of studying the atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets and estimating their surface conditions. Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars are currently inaccessible with JWST, however, and will have to be observed using the next generation of telescopes with direct-imaging capabilities. Detecting active volcanism on an Earth-like planet would be particularly valuable as it would provide insight into its interior and provide context for the commonality of the interior states of Earth and Venus. In this work, we used a climate model to simulate four exoEarths over eight years with ongoing large igneous province eruptions with outputs ranging from 1.8 to 60 Gt of sulfur dioxide. The atmospheric data from the simulations were used to model direct-imaging observations between 0.2 and 2.0 μ m, producing reflectance spectra for every month of each exoEarth simulation. We calculated the amount of observation time required to detect each of the major absorption features in the spectra, and we identified the most prominent effects that volcanism had on the reflectance spectra. These effects include changes in the size of the O _3 , O _2 , and H _2 O absorption features and changes in the slope of the spectrum. Of these changes, we conclude that the most detectable and least ambiguous evidence of volcanism are changes in both O _3 absorption and the slope of the spectrum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:20:05Z |
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| id | doaj.art-61cce638f58a42e2bfe663b90b2a348f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-3881 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:20:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astronomical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-61cce638f58a42e2bfe663b90b2a348f2023-10-19T14:12:01ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812023-01-01166519910.3847/1538-3881/acfe12The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct ImagingColby M. Ostberg0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7968-0309Scott D. Guzewich1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1149-7385Stephen R. Kane2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7084-0529Erika Kohler3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0000-199XLuke D. Oman4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5487-2598Thomas J. Fauchez5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5967-9631Ravi K. Kopparapu6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5893-2471Jacob Richardson7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1736-8907Patrick Whelley8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3266-9772Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California , Riverside, CA 92521, USA ; costb001@ucr.edu; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California , Riverside, CA 92521, USA ; costb001@ucr.eduNASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Integrated Space Science and Technology Institute, Department of Physics, American University , Washington, DC, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; University of Maryland , Department of Astronomy, College Park, MD 20742, USAThe James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided the first opportunity of studying the atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets and estimating their surface conditions. Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars are currently inaccessible with JWST, however, and will have to be observed using the next generation of telescopes with direct-imaging capabilities. Detecting active volcanism on an Earth-like planet would be particularly valuable as it would provide insight into its interior and provide context for the commonality of the interior states of Earth and Venus. In this work, we used a climate model to simulate four exoEarths over eight years with ongoing large igneous province eruptions with outputs ranging from 1.8 to 60 Gt of sulfur dioxide. The atmospheric data from the simulations were used to model direct-imaging observations between 0.2 and 2.0 μ m, producing reflectance spectra for every month of each exoEarth simulation. We calculated the amount of observation time required to detect each of the major absorption features in the spectra, and we identified the most prominent effects that volcanism had on the reflectance spectra. These effects include changes in the size of the O _3 , O _2 , and H _2 O absorption features and changes in the slope of the spectrum. Of these changes, we conclude that the most detectable and least ambiguous evidence of volcanism are changes in both O _3 absorption and the slope of the spectrum.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acfe12Exoplanet atmospheresExoplanet astronomyExoplanet detection methodsExoplanetsVolcanismDirect imaging |
| spellingShingle | Colby M. Ostberg Scott D. Guzewich Stephen R. Kane Erika Kohler Luke D. Oman Thomas J. Fauchez Ravi K. Kopparapu Jacob Richardson Patrick Whelley The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging The Astronomical Journal Exoplanet atmospheres Exoplanet astronomy Exoplanet detection methods Exoplanets Volcanism Direct imaging |
| title | The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging |
| title_full | The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging |
| title_fullStr | The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging |
| title_short | The Prospect of Detecting Volcanic Signatures on an ExoEarth Using Direct Imaging |
| title_sort | prospect of detecting volcanic signatures on an exoearth using direct imaging |
| topic | Exoplanet atmospheres Exoplanet astronomy Exoplanet detection methods Exoplanets Volcanism Direct imaging |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acfe12 |
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