Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21722007d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #220.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We explore the impact of obliquity variations on planetary habitability in hypothetical systems with high mutual inclination. For the hypothetical systems, we restrict our exploration to systems consisting of a solar-mass star, an Earth-mass planet at 1 AU, and 1 or 2 giant planets. We verify that these systems are stable for 108 years with N-body simulations. We then calculate the obliquity variations induced by the orbital architecture on the Earth-mass planets. We find that in some cases the spin axes can rotate through 360 degrees in as little as 10,000 years (John is that right? Can you look through the systems and find the most extreme case of obliquity variation?) Next, we run energy balance models (EBM) on the terrestrial planets to assess surface temperature and ice coverage on the planets' oceans. Finally, we explore differences in the outer edge of the habitable zone for planets with rapid obliquity variations. We run EBM simulations for a range of values for the semi-major axis, assuming that the obliquity variations of the nominal system (terrestrial planet at 1 AU) are typical for each orbital architecture. We find that planets undergoing extreme axial perturbations may be habitable at larger distances than those with static obliquity. This extension arises because the obliquity variations suppress the build-up of ice sheets at the poles, reducing the effectiveness of the ice-albedo-temperature feedback. We also apply our model to the Gl 581 g planet to explore these obliquity-climate feedbacks to a known system with potentially habitable planets.
Armstrong John C.
Barnes Robin
Breiner J.
Domagal-Goldman Shawn
Meadows Victoria S.
No associations
LandOfFree
Tilt-a-Worlds: Effects of High Rates of Obliquity Change on the Habitability of Extrasolar Planets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Tilt-a-Worlds: Effects of High Rates of Obliquity Change on the Habitability of Extrasolar Planets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tilt-a-Worlds: Effects of High Rates of Obliquity Change on the Habitability of Extrasolar Planets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1397714