Pascal Hedelt

Spectral features of Earth-like planets and their detectability at different orbital distances around F, G, and K-type stars

Context. In recent years, more and more transiting terrestrial extrasolar planets have been found. Spectroscopy already yielded the detection of molecular absorption bands in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Neptune-sized exoplanets. Detecting spectral features in the atmosphere of terrestrial planets is the next great challenge for exoplanet characterization. Aims. We investigate the spectral appearance of Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zone (HZ) of different main sequence (F, G, and K-type) stars at different orbital distances. We furthermore discuss for which of these scenarios biomarker absorption bands and related compounds may be detected during primary or secondary transit with near-future telescopes and instruments. Methods. Atmospheric profiles from a 1D cloud-free atmospheric climate-photochemistry model were used to compute primary and secondary eclipse infrared spectra. The spectra were analyzed taking into account different filter bandpasses of two photometric instruments planned to be mounted to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We analyzed in which filters and for which scenarios molecular absorption bands are detectable when using the space-borne JWST or the ground-based European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Results. Absorption bands of carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are clearly visible in both highresolution spectra as well as in the filters of photometric instruments. However, only during primary eclipse absorption bands of CO2, H2 Oa nd O 3 are detectable for all scenarios when using photometric instruments and an E-ELT-like telescope setup. CH4 is only detectable at the outer HZ of the K-type star since here the atmospheric modeling results in very high abundances. Since the detectable CO2 and H2O absorption bands overlap, separate bands need to be observed to prove their existence in the planetary atmosphere. In order to detect H2O in a separate band, a ratio S /N > 7 needs to be achieved for E-ELT observations, e.g. by co-adding at least 10 transit observations. Using a space-borne telescope like the JWST enables the detection of CO2 at 4.3 μm, which is not possible for ground-based observations due to the Earth’s atmospheric absorption. Hence combining observations of space-borne and groundbased telescopes might allow to detect the presence of the biomarker molecule O3 and the related compounds H2 Oa nd CO 2 in a planetary atmosphere. Other absorption bands using the JWST can only be detected for much higher S/Ns, which is not achievable by just co-adding transit observations since this would be far beyond the planned mission time of JWST.

The extrasolar planet Gliese 581d: a potentially habitable planet?

Aims. The planetary system around the M star Gliese 581 contains at least three close-in potentially low-mass planets, Gl 581c, d, and e. In order to address the question of the habitability of Gl 581d, we performed detailed atmospheric modeling studies for several planetary scenarios. Methods. A 1D radiative-convective model was used to calculate temperature and pressure profiles of model atmospheres, which we assumed to be composed of molecular nitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide. The model allows for changing surface pressures caused by evaporation/condensation of water and carbon dioxide. Furthermore, the treatment of the energy transport has been improved in the model to account in particular for high CO2, high-pressure Super-Earth conditions. Results. For four high-pressure scenarios of our study, the resulting surface temperatures were above 273 K, indicating a potential habitability of the planet. These scenarios include three CO2-dominated atmospheres (95% CO2 concentration with 5, 10, and 20 bar surface pressure) and a high-pressure CO2-enriched atmosphere (5% CO2 concentration with 20 bar surface pressure). For all other considered scenarios, the calculated Gl 581d surface temperatures were below the freezing point of water, suggesting that Gl 581d would not be habitable then. The results for our CO2-dominated scenarios confirm very recent model results by Wordsworth et al. (2010). However, our model calculations imply that also atmospheres that are not CO2-dominated (i.e., 5% vmr instead of 95% vmr) could result in habitable conditions for Gl 581d.

Characterization of potentially habitable planets: Retrieval of atmospheric and planetary properties from emission spectra

Context. An increasing number of potentially habitable terrestrial planets and planet candidates are found by ongoing planet search programs. The search for atmospheric signatures to establish planetary habitability and the presence of life might be possible in the future. Aims. We want to quantify the accuracy of retrieved atmospheric parameters (composition, temperature, pressure) that might be obtained from infrared emission spectroscopy. Methods. We use synthetic observations of the atmospheres of hypothetical potentially habitable planets. These were constructed with a parametrized atmosphere model, a high-resolution radiative transfer model and a simplified noise model. The simulated observations were used to fit the model parameters. Furthermore, classic statistical tools such as χ 2 statistics and least-square fits were used to analyze the simulated observations. Results. When adopting the design of currently planned or proposed exoplanet characterization missions, we find that emission spectroscopy could provide weak limits on the surface conditions of terrestrial planets, hence their potential habitability. However, these mission designs are unlikely to allow the composition of the atmosphere of a habitable planet to be characterized, even though CO2 is detected. Upon increasing the signal-to-noise ratios by about a factor of 2−5 (depending on spectral resolution) compared to current mission designs, the CO2 content could be characterized to within two orders of magnitude. The detection of the O3 biosignature remains marginal. The atmospheric temperature structure could not be constrained. Therefore, a full atmospheric characterization seems to be beyond the capabilities of such missions when using only emission spectroscopy during secondary eclipse or target visits. Other methods such as transmission spectroscopy or orbital photometry are probably needed in order to give additional constraints and break degeneracies.

Characterization of COROT Target Fields with BEST: Identification of Periodic Variable Stars in the IR01 Field

We report on observations of the COROT IR01 field with the Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope (BEST). BEST is a small-aperture telescope with a wide field of view (FOV). It is dedicated to searching for variable stars within the target fields of the COROT space mission to aid in minimizing false-alarm rates, and identifying potential targets for additional science. COROTs observational program started in 2007 February, with the initial run field (IR01) observed for about 2 months. BEST observed this field for 12 nights spread over 3 months in winter 2006. From the total of 30,426 stars observed in the IR01 field, 3769 were marked as suspected variable stars, and 54 of these showed clear periodicity. From these, 19 periodic stars are within the part of the COROT FOV covered in our data set.

Pre-Discovery Observations of CoRoT-1b and CoRoT-2b with the BEST Survey

The Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope (BEST) wide-angle telescope installed at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence and operated in remote control from Berlin by the Institut fur Planetenforschung, DLR, has observed the CoRoT target fields prior to the mission. The resulting archive of stellar photometric light curves is used to search for deep transit events announced during CoRoTs alarm mode to aid in fast photometric confirmation of these events. The initial run field of CoRoT (IRa01) was observed with BEST in 2006 November and December for 12 nights. The first long run field (LRc01) was observed from 2005 June to September for 35 nights. After standard CCD data reduction, aperture photometry has been performed using the ISIS image subtraction method. About 30,000 light curves were obtained in each field. Transits of the first detected planets by the CoRoT mission, CoRoT-1b and CoRoT-2b, were found in archived data of the BEST survey and their light curves are presented here. Such detections provide useful information at the early stage of the organization of follow-up observations of satellite alarm-mode planet candidates. In addition, no period change was found over ~4 years between the first BEST observation and last available transit observations.

Astrophysics The Earth as an extrasolar transiting planet II. HARPS and UVES detection of water vapour, biogenic O 2 , and O 3

The atmospheric composition of transiting exoplanets can be characterized during transit by spectroscopy. For the transit of an Earth twin, models predict that biogenic

Transmission spectroscopy with the ACE-FTS infrared spectral atlas of Earth: A model validation and feasibility study

O_2

Volcanic SO2 plume height retrieval from UV sensors using a full-physics inverse learning machine algorithm

and

The extrasolar planet GL 581 d: A potentially habitable planet?

O_3

Warming the early earth—CO2 reconsidered

should be detectable, as well as water vapour, a molecule linked to habitability as we know it on Earth. The aim is to measure the Earth radius versus wavelength