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Register a new userBreezing through the space environment of Barnards Star b
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Authors
Julian D. Alvarado-Gomez
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A physically realistic stellar wind model based on Alfven wave dissipation has been used to simulate the wind from Barnards Star and to estimate the conditions at the location of its recently discovered planetary companion. Such models require knowledge of the stellar surface magnetic field that is currently unknown for Barnards Star. We circumvent this by considering the observed field distributions of three different stars that constitute admissible magnetic proxies of this object. Under these considerations, Barnards Star b experiences less intense wind pressure than the much more close-in planet Proxima~b and the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system. The milder wind conditions are more a result of its much greater orbital distance rather than in differences in the surface magnetic field strengths of the host stars. The dynamic pressure experienced by the planet is comparable to present-day Earth values, but it can undergo variations by factors of several during current sheet crossings in each orbit. The magnetospause standoff distance would be $sim$,$20 - 40$,% smaller than that of the Earth for an equivalent planetary magnetic field strength.
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We have performed mid-infrared imaging of Barnards Star, one of the nearest stars to the Sun, using CanariCam on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We aim to investigate an area within 1-10 arcsec separations, which for the 1.83 pc distance of the star translates to projected orbital separations of 1.8-18 AU (P > 12 yr), which have not been explored yet with astrometry or radial velocity programs. It is therefore an opportunity to enter the domain of distances where most giant planets are expected to form. We performed deep imaging in the N-band window (Si-2 filter, 8.7 {mu}m) reaching a 3{sigma} detection limit of 0.85+/-0.18 mJy and angular resolution of 0.24 arcsec, close to the diffraction limit of the telescope at this wavelength. A total of 80 min on-source integration time data were collected and combined for the deepest image. We achieved a dynamical range of 8.0+/-0.1 mag in the 8.7 {mu}m band, at angular separations from ~2 to 10 arcsec and of ~6-8 mag at 1-2 arcsec. No additional sources were found. Our detectability limits provide further constraints to the presence of substellar companions of the Barnards Star. According to solar metallicity evolutionary models, we can exclude companions of masses larger than 15 MJup (Teff > 400 K), ages of a few Gyr, and located in ~3.6-18 AU orbits with a 3{sigma} confidence level. This minimum mass is approximately 5 MJup smaller than any previous imaging survey that explored the surroundings of Barnards Star could restrict.
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