Bayesian Analysis for Remote Biosignature Identification on exoEarths (BARBIE). II. Using Grid-based Nested Sampling in Coronagraphy Observation Simulations for O2 and O3

Natasha Latouf; Avi M. Mandell; Geronimo L. Villanueva; Michael D. Himes; Michael Dane Moore; Nicholas Susemiehl; Jaime Crouse; Shawn Domagal-Goldman; Giada Arney; Vincent Kofman; Amber V. Young

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad0fde

The Astronomical Journal (Jan 2023)

Bayesian Analysis for Remote Biosignature Identification on exoEarths (BARBIE). II. Using Grid-based Nested Sampling in Coronagraphy Observation Simulations for O2 and O3

Natasha Latouf,
Avi M. Mandell,
Geronimo L. Villanueva,
Michael D. Himes,
Michael Dane Moore,
Nicholas Susemiehl,
Jaime Crouse,
Shawn Domagal-Goldman,
Giada Arney,
Vincent Kofman,
Amber V. Young

Affiliations

Natasha Latouf: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason University , 4400 University Drive MS 3F3, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA ; [email protected], [email protected]; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanets Environment Collaboration , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Avi M. Mandell: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanets Environment Collaboration , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Geronimo L. Villanueva: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanets Environment Collaboration , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Michael D. Himes: ORCiD; NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Michael Dane Moore: ORCiD; Sellers Exoplanets Environment Collaboration , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA; Business Integra, Inc. , Bethesda, MD, USA
Nicholas Susemiehl: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Jaime Crouse: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; NASA GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration , MD 20771, USA
Shawn Domagal-Goldman: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Giada Arney: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; NASA GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration , MD 20771, USA
Vincent Kofman: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Sellers Exoplanets Environment Collaboration , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Integrated Space Science and Technology Institute, Department of Physics, American University , Washington DC, USA
Amber V. Young: ORCiD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; NASA GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration , MD 20771, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad0fde
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 167, no. 1
p. 27

Abstract

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We present the results for the detectability of the O _2 and O _3 molecular species in the atmosphere of an Earth-like planet using reflected light at visible wavelengths. By quantifying the detectability as a function of the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), we can constrain the best methods to detect these biosignatures with next-generation telescopes designed for high-contrast coronagraphy. Using 25 bandpasses between 0.515 and 1 μ m and a preconstructed grid of geometric albedo spectra, we examined the spectral sensitivity needed to detect these species for a range of molecular abundances. We first replicate a modern-Earth twin atmosphere to study the detectability of current O _2 and O _3 levels, and then expand to a wider range of literature-driven abundances for each molecule. We constrain the optimal 20%, 30%, and 40% bandpasses based on the effective S/N of the data, and define the requirements for the possibility of simultaneous molecular detection. We present our findings of O _2 and O _3 detectability as functions of the S/N, wavelength, and abundance, and discuss how to use these results for optimizing future instrument designs. We find that O _2 is detectable between 0.64 and 0.83 μ m with moderate-S/N data for abundances near that of modern Earth and greater, but undetectable for lower abundances consistent with a Proterozoic Earth. O _3 is detectable only at very high S/N data in the case of modern-Earth abundances; however, it is detectable at low-S/N data for higher O _3 abundances that can occur from efficient abiotic O _3 production mechanisms.

Published in The Astronomical Journal

ISSN: 0004-6256 (Print); 1538-3881 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1538-3881

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