Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Apr 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja....12195l&link_type=abstract
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #12195
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The detection of Uranus-class and terrestrial-size exosolar planets will be one of the next big steps in astronomy. COROT and EDDINGTON will be the first missions with the capability to detect such planets with a size of 1.5 - 4 Earth radii and at distances between 0.3 - 1 AU via transits. The discovered large exosolar planets orbiting close to their central star may have either migrated from a farther distance, or may have formed already at this close distance. Both scenarios are also discussed for Uranus-class and smaller planets and therefore, it is important to study the atmospheric loss and stability for such bodies. As upper planetary atmospheres are mainly controlled by absorption of EUV radiation a scaling relation is used for the first time to estimate the exospheric temperature for exosolar planets, based on the assumption of equilibrium between EUV heat input and downward heat transport by conduction. A large exosphere temperature which is typical for hydrogen dominated thermosphere's yield energy limited escape fluxes for Uranus- and Jupiter-class planets orbiting G-type stars at distances £ 3 AU and £ 1 AU, respectively. At a distance of about 0.4 AU Uranus- and Jupiter- size planets will loose a mass comparable to their hydrogen atmospheres during 4.5 Gyr.
Bauer Siegfried J.
Guinan Edward F.
Lammer Helmut
Ribas Ignasi
Selsis Franck
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