Simulations of the Atmospheres of Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs: Conditions for Atmospheric Collapse and the Implications for Habitability

Details Simulations of the Atmospheres of Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs: Conditions for Atmospheric Collapse and the Implications for Habitability Simulations of the Atmospheres of Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs: Conditions for Atmospheric Collapse and the Implications for Habitability

Oct 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997icar..129..450j&link_type=abstract

Icarus, Volume 129, Issue 2, pp. 450-465.

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84

Scientific paper

Planets within the habitable zones of M dwarfs are likely to be synchronous rotators; in other words, one side is permanently illuminated while the other side is in perpetual darkness. We present results of three-dimensional simulations of the atmospheres of such planets, and comment on their possible habitability. Near the ground, a thermally direct longitudinal cell exists, transporting heat from the dayside to the nightside. The circulation is three-dimensional, with low-level winds returning mass to the dayside across the polar regions. Aloft, the zonally averaged winds display a pattern of strong superrotation due to these planets' finite (albeit small) rotation rate. With terrestrial values of insolation, a CO_2_solarH_2O atmosphere collapses, or condenses on the surface of the darkside, when surface pressure is approximately 30 mb, this value being much lower for a N_2 atmosphere. This temperature contrast is also sensitive to factors such as gravity, planetary radius, and IR optical depth tau. These results question the suitability of the concept of a habitable zone around M dwarfs that is independent of planetary parameters. If CO_2 partial pressure is controlled by the carbonate-silicate cycle, we find that these planets should have a minimum surface pressure of 1000-1500 mb of CO_2, as this is the minimum pressure needed to support stable liquid water on the darkside at the inner edge of the habitable zone. We finally conclude that planets orbiting M stars can support atmospheres over a large range of conditions and, despite constraints such as stellar activity, are very likely to be habitable.

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