About Exobiology: The Case for Dwarf K Stars
The Astrophysical Journal2016
One of the most fundamental topics of exobiology concerns the identification of stars with environments consistent with life. Although it is believed that most types of main-sequence stars might be able to support life, particularly extremophiles, special requirements appear to be necessary for the development and sustainability of advanced life forms. From our study, orange main-sequence stars, ranging from spectral type late-G to mid-K (with a maximum at early-K), are most promising. Our analysis considers a variety of aspects, including (1) the frequency of the various types of stars, (2) the speed of stellar evolution their lifetimes, (3) the size of the stellar climatological habitable zones (CLI-HZs), (4) the strengths and persistence of their magnetic dynamo generated X-ray - UV emissions, and (5) the frequency and severity of flares, including superflares; both (4) and (5) greatly reduce the suitability of red dwarfs to host life-bearing planets. The various phenomena show pronounced dependencies on the stellar key parameters such as effective temperature and mass, permitting the assessment of the astrobiological significance of various types of stars. Thus, we developed a "Habitable-Planetary-Real-Estate Parameter" (HabPREP) that provides a measure for stars that are most suitable for planets with life. Early K stars are found to have the highest HabPREP values, indicating they may be "Goldilocks" stars for life-hosting planets. Red dwarfs are numerous, having long lifetimes, but their narrow CLI-HZs and hazards from magnetic activity make them less suitable for hosting exolife. Moreover, we provide X-ray - FUV irradiances for G0 V - M5 V stars over a wide range of ages.
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The Habitability of Proxima Centauri B. I. Irradiation, Rotation and Volatile Inventory From Formation to the Present
Astronomy & Astrophysics2016
Proxima b is a planet with a minimum mass of 1.3 MEarth orbiting within the habitable zone (HZ) of Proxima Centauri, a very low-mass, active star and the Sun's closest neighbor. Here we investigate a number of factors related to the potential habitability of Proxima b and its ability to maintain liquid water on its surface. We set the stage by estimating the current high-energy irradiance of the planet and show that the planet currently receives 30 times more EUV radiation than Earth and 250 times more X-rays. We compute the time evolution of the star's spectrum, which is essential for modeling the flux received over Proxima b's lifetime. We also show that Proxima b's obliquity is likely null and its spin is either synchronous or in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, depending on the planet's eccentricity and level of triaxiality. Next we consider the evolution of Proxima b's water inventory. We use our spectral energy distribution to compute the hydrogen loss from the planet with an improved energy-limited escape formalism. Despite the high level of stellar activity we find that Proxima b is likely to have lost less than an Earth ocean's worth of hydrogen before it reached the HZ 100-200 Myr after its formation. The largest uncertainty in our work is the initial water budget, which is not constrained by planet formation models. We conclude that Proxima b is a viable candidate habitable planet.
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The Secret Life of Cepheids: Evolution, Mass Loss, and Ultraviolet Emission of the Long Period Classical Cepheid L Carinae
Astrophysical Journal2016
The classical Cepheid l Carinae is an essential calibrator of the Cepheid Leavitt Law as a rare long-period Galactic Cepheid. Understanding the properties of this star will also constrain the physics and evolution of massive (M≥8 M⊙) Cepheids. The challenge, however, is precisely measuring the star's pulsation period and its rate of period change. The former is important for calibrating the Leavitt Law and the latter for stellar evolution modeling. In this work, we combine previous time-series observations spanning more than a century with new observations to remeasure the pulsation period and compute the rate of period change. We compare our new rate of period change with stellar evolution models to measure the properties of l Car, but find models and observations are, at best, marginally consistent. The results imply that l Car does not have significantly enhanced mass-loss rates like that measured for δ Cephei. We find that the mass of l Car is about 8 - 10 M⊙. We present Hubble Space Telescope COS observations that also differ from measurements for δ Cep, and β Dor. These measurements further add to the challenge of understanding the physics of Cepheids, but do hint at the possible relation between enhanced mass loss and ultraviolet emission, perhaps both due to the strength of shocks propagating in the atmospheres of Cepheids.
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Living with a Red Dwarf: Rotation and X-Ray and Ultraviolet Properties of the Halo Population Kapteyn's Star
Astrophysical Journal2016
As part of Villanova's Living with a Red Dwarf program, we have obtained UV, X-ray and optical data of the Population II red dwarf -- Kapteyn's Star. Kapteyn's Star is noteworthy for its large proper motions and high RV of ~+245 km s^-1. As the nearest Pop II red dwarf, it serves as an old age anchor for calibrating Activity/Irradiance-Rotation-Age relations, and an important test bed for stellar dynamos and the resulting X-ray -- UV emissions of slowly rotating, near-fully convective red dwarf stars. Adding to the notoriety, Kapteyn's Star has recently been reported to host two super-Earth candidates, one of which (Kapteyn b) is orbiting within the habitable zone (Anglada-Escude et al. 2014a, 2015). However, Robertson et al. (2015) questioned the planet's existence since its orbital period may be an artifact of activity, related to the star's rotation period. Because of its large Doppler-shift, measures of the important, chromospheric H I Lyman-alpha 1215.67A emission line can be reliably made, because it is mostly displaced from ISM and geo-coronal sources. Lyman-alpha emission dominates the FUV region of cool stars. Our measures can help determine the X-ray--UV effects on planets hosted by Kapteyn's Star, and planets hosted by other old red dwarfs. Stellar X-ray and Lyman-alpha emissions have strong influences on the heating and ionization of upper planetary atmospheres and can (with stellar winds and flares) erode or even eliminate planetary atmospheres. Using our program stars, we have reconstructed the past exposures of Kapteyn's Star's planets to coronal -- chromospheric XUV emissions over time.
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Magnetic Field and Wind of Kappa Ceti: Toward the Planetary Habitability of the Young Sun When Life Arose on Earth
Astrophysical Journal Letters2016
We report magnetic field measurements for Kappa1~Cet, a proxy of the young Sun when life arose on Earth. We carry out an analysis of the magnetic properties determined from spectropolarimetric observations and reconstruct its large-scale surface magnetic field to derive the magnetic environment, stellar winds and particle flux permeating the interplanetary medium around Kappa1~Cet. Our results show a closer magnetosphere and mass-loss rate of Mdot = 9.7 x 10^{-13} Msol/yr, i.e., a factor 50 times larger than the current solar wind mass-loss rate, resulting in a larger interaction via space weather disturbances between the stellar wind and a hypothetical young-Earth analogue, potentially affecting the planet's habitability. Interaction of the wind from the young Sun with the planetary ancient magnetic field may have affected the young Earth and its life conditions
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