The Climates and Thermal Emission Spectra of Prime Nearby Temperate Rocky Exoplanet Targets

Tobi Hammond; Thaddeus D. Komacek; Ravi K. Kopparapu; Thomas J. Fauchez; Avi M. Mandell; Eric T. Wolf; Vincent Kofman; Stephen R. Kane; Ted M. Johnson; Anmol Desai; Giada Arney; Jaime S. Crouse

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/adc73b

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)

The Climates and Thermal Emission Spectra of Prime Nearby Temperate Rocky Exoplanet Targets

Tobi Hammond,
Thaddeus D. Komacek,
Ravi K. Kopparapu,
Thomas J. Fauchez,
Avi M. Mandell,
Eric T. Wolf,
Vincent Kofman,
Stephen R. Kane,
Ted M. Johnson,
Anmol Desai,
Giada Arney,
Jaime S. Crouse

Affiliations

Tobi Hammond: ORCiD; Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA ; [email protected]
Thaddeus D. Komacek: ORCiD; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Physics (Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics), University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK; Blue Marble Space Institute of Science , Seattle, WA 98104, USA
Ravi K. Kopparapu: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Thomas J. Fauchez: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; American University , 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Avi M. Mandell: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Eric T. Wolf: ORCiD; Blue Marble Space Institute of Science , Seattle, WA 98104, USA; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80303, USA
Vincent Kofman: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; American University , 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Stephen R. Kane: ORCiD; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California , Riverside, CA 92521, USA
Ted M. Johnson: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Anmol Desai: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Southeastern Universities Research Association , Washington, DC 20005, USA
Giada Arney: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Jaime S. Crouse: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc73b
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 984, no. 2
p. 181

Abstract

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Over the course of the past decade, advances in radial velocity and transit techniques have enabled the detection of rocky exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. Future observations with novel methods are required to characterize this sample of planets, especially those that are nontransiting. One proposed method is the Planetary Infrared Excess (PIE) technique, which would enable the characterization of nontransiting planets by measuring the excess IR flux from the planet relative to the star’s spectral energy distribution. In this work, we predict the efficacy of future observations using the PIE technique by potential future observatories such as the MIRECLE mission concept. To do so, we conduct a broad suite of 21 general circulation model (GCM) simulations, with ExoCAM, of seven nearby habitable zone targets for three choices of atmospheric composition with varying partial pressure of CO _2 . We then construct thermal phase curves and emission spectra by post-processing our ExoCAM GCM simulations with the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG). We find that all cases have distinguishable carbon dioxide and water features assuming a 90° orbital inclination. Notably, we predict that CO _2 is potentially detectable at 15 μ m with MIRECLE for at least four nearby known nontransiting rocky planet candidate targets in the habitable zone: Proxima Centauri b, GJ 1061 d, GJ 1002 b, and Teegarden’s Star c. Our ExoCAM GCMs and PSG post-processing demonstrate the potential to observationally characterize nearby nontransiting rocky planets and better constrain the potential for habitability in our solar neighborhood.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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