Precise and accurate parameters for late-type (late K and M) dwarf stars are important for characterization of any orbiting planets, but such determinations have been hampered by these stars complex spectra and dissimilarity to the Sun. We exploit an
empirically calibrated method to estimate spectroscopic effective temperature ($T_{rm{eff}}$) and the Stefan-Boltzmann law to determine radii of 183 nearby K7-M7 single stars with a precision of 2-5%. Our improved stellar parameters enable us to develop model-independent relations between $T_{rm{eff}}$ or absolute magnitude and radius, as well as between color and $T_{rm{eff}}$. The derived $T_{rm{eff}}$-radius relation depends strongly on [Fe/H], as predicted by theory. The relation between absolute $K_S$ magnitude and radius can predict radii accurate to $simeq$3%. We derive bolometric corrections to the $VR_CI_CgrizJHK_S$ and Gaia passbands as a function of color, accurate to 1-3%. We confront the reliability of predictions from Dartmouth stellar evolution models using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo to find the values of unobservable model parameters (mass, age) that best reproduce the observed effective temperature and bolometric flux while satisfying constraints on distance and metallicity as Bayesian priors. With the inferred masses we derive a semi-empirical mass-absolute magnitude relation with a scatter of 2% in mass. The best-agreement models over-predict stellar $T_{rm{eff}}$s by an average of 2.2% and under-predict stellar radii by 4.6%, similar to differences with values from low-mass eclipsing binaries. These differences are not correlated with metallicity, mass, or indicators of activity, suggesting issues with the underlying model assumptions e.g., opacities or convective mixing length.
We show that collision-induced absorption allows molecular hydrogen to act as an incondensible greenhouse gas, and that bars or tens of bars of primordial H2-He mixtures can maintain surface temperatures above the freezing point of water well beyond
the classical habitable zone defined for CO2 greenhouse atmospheres. Using a 1-D radiative-convective model we find that 40 bars of pure H2 on a 3 Earth-mass planet can maintain a surface temperature of 280K out to 1.5AU from an early-type M dwarf star and 10 AU from a G-type star. Neglecting the effects of clouds and of gaseous absorbers besides H2, the flux at the surface would be sufficient for photosynthesis by cyanobacteria (in the G star case) or anoxygenic phototrophs (in the M star case). We argue that primordial atmospheres of one to several hundred bars of H2-He are possible, and use a model of hydrogen escape to show that such atmospheres are likely to persist further than 1.5 AU from M stars, and 2 AU from G stars, assuming these planets have protecting magnetic fields. We predict that the microlensing planet OGLE-05-390L could have retained a H2-He atmosphere and be habitable at ~2.6 AU from its host M star.
We model the heating of a primordial planetesimal by decay of the short-lived radionuclides Al-26 and Fe-60 to determine (i) the timescale on which melting will occur; (ii) the minimum size of a body that will produce silicate melt and differentiate;
(iii) the migration rate of molten material within the interior; and (iv) the thermal consequences of the transport of Al-26 in partial melt. Our models incorporate results from previous studies of planetary differentiation and are constrained by petrologic (i.e. grain size distributions), isotopic (e.g. Pb-Pb and Hf-W ages) and mineralogical properties of differentiated achondrites. We show that formation of a basaltic crust via melt percolation was limited by the formation time of the body, matrix grain size and viscosity of the melt. We show that low viscosity (< 1 Pa-s) silicate melt can buoyantly migrate on a timescale comparable to the mean life of Al-26. The equilibrium partitioning of Al into silicate partial melt and the migration of that melt acts to dampen internal temperatures. However, subsequent heating from the decay of Fe-60 generated melt fractions in excess of 50%, thus completing differentiation for bodies that accreted within 2 Myr of CAI formation (i.e. the onset of isotopic decay). Migration and concentration of Al-26 into a crust results in remelting of that crust for accretion times less than 2 Myr and for bodies >100 km in size. Differentiation would be most likely for planetesimals larger than 20 km in diameter that accreted within ~2.7 Myr of CAI formation.
To ascertain whether magnetic dynamos operate in rocky exoplanets more massive or hotter than the Earth, we developed a parametric model of a differentiated rocky planet and its thermal evolution. Our model reproduces the established properties of Ea
rths interior and magnetic field at the present time. When applied to Venus, assuming that planet lacks plate tectonics and has a dehydrated mantle with an elevated viscosity, the model shows that the dynamo shuts down or never operated. Our model predicts that at a fixed planet mass, dynamo history is sensitive to core size, but not to the initial inventory of long-lived, heat-producing radionuclides. It predicts that rocky planets larger than 2.5 Earth masses will not develop inner cores because the temperature-pressure slope of the iron solidus becomes flatter than that of the core adiabat. Instead, iron snow will condense near or at the top of these cores, and the net transfer of latent heat upwards will suppress convection and a dynamo. More massive planets can have anemic dynamos due to core cooling, but only if they have mobile lids (plate tectonics). The lifetime of these dynamos is shorter with increasing planet mass but longer with higher surface temperature. Massive Venus-like planets with stagnant lids and more viscous mantles will lack dynamos altogether. We identify two alternative sources of magnetic fields on rocky planets: eddy currents induced in the hot or molten upper layers of planets on very short period orbits, and dynamos in the ionic conducting layers of ocean planets with ~10% mass in an upper mantle of water (ice).
We provide estimates of volcanism versus time for planets with Earth-like composition and masses from 0.25 to 25 times Earth, as a step toward predicting atmospheric mass on extrasolar rocky planets. Volcanism requires melting of the silicate mantle.
We use a thermal evolution model, calibrated against Earth, in combination with standard melting models, to explore the dependence of convection-driven decompression mantle melting on planet mass. Here we show that (1) volcanism is likely to proceed on massive planets with plate tectonics over the main-sequence lifetime of the parent star; (2) crustal thickness (and melting rate normalized to planet mass) is weakly dependent on planet mass; (3) stagnant lid planets live fast (they have higher rates of melting than their plate tectonic counterparts early in their thermal evolution) but die young (melting shuts down after a few Gyr); (4) plate tectonics may not operate on high mass planets because of the production of buoyant crust which is difficult to subduct; and (5) melting is necessary but insufficient for efficient volcanic degassing - volatiles partition into the earliest, deepest melts, which may be denser than the residue and sink to the base of the mantle on young, massive planets. Magma must also crystallize at or near the surface, and the pressure of overlying volatiles must be fairly low, if volatiles are to reach the surface. If volcanism is detected in the Tau Ceti system, and tidal forcing can be shown to be weak, this would be evidence for plate tectonics.
We investigate the influence of lunar-like satellites on the infrared orbital light curves of Earth-analog extra-solar planets. Such light curves will be obtained by NASAs Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESAs Darwin missions as a consequence of r
epeat observations to confirm the companion status of a putative planet. We use an energy balance model to calculate disk-averaged infrared (bolometric) fluxes from planet-satellite systems over a full orbital period (one year). The satellites are assumed to lack an atmosphere, have a low thermal inertia like that of the Moon and span a range of plausible radii. The planets are assumed to have thermal and orbital properties that mimic those of the Earth while their obliquities and orbital longitudes of inferior conjunction remain free parameters. Even if the gross thermal properties of the planet can be independently constrained (e.g. via spectroscopy or visible-wavelength detection of specular glint from a surface ocean) only the largest (approximately Mars-size) lunar-like satellites can be detected by light curve data from a TPF-like instrument (i.e. one that achieves a photometric signal-to-noise of 10-20 at infrared wavelengths). Non-detection of a lunar-like satellite can obfuscate the interpretation of a given systems infrared light curve so that it may resemble a single planet with high obliquity, different orbital longitude of vernal equinox relative to inferior conjunction and in some cases drastically different thermal characteristics. If the thermal properties of the planet are not independently established then the presence of a lunar-like satellite cannot be inferred from infrared data, thus demonstrating that photometric light curves alone can only be used for preliminary study of extra-solar Earth-like planets.
We present the observational results of a survey designed to target and detect asteroids whose colors are similar to those of Vesta family members and thus may be considered as candidates for having a basaltic composition. Fifty basaltic candidates w
ere selected with orbital elements that lie outside of the Vesta dynamical family. Optical and near-infrared spectra were used to assign a taxonomic type to 11 of the 50 candidates. Ten of these were spectroscopically confirmed as V-type asteroids, suggesting that most of the candidates are basaltic and can be used to constrain the distribution of basaltic material in the Main Belt. Using our catalog of V-type candidates and the success rate of the survey, we calculate unbiased size-frequency and semi-major axis distributions of V-type asteroids. These distributions, in addition to an estimate for the total mass of basaltic material, suggest that Vesta was the predominant contributor to the basaltic asteroid inventory of the Main Belt, however scattered planetesimals from the inner Solar System (a < 2.0 AU) and other partially/fully differentiated bodies likely contributed to this inventory. In particular, we infer the presence of basaltic fragments in the vicinity of asteroid 15 Eunomia, which may be derived from a differentiated parent body in the middle Main Belt (2.5 < a < 2.8). We find no asteroidal evidence for a large number of previously undiscovered basaltic asteroids, which agrees with previous theories suggesting that basaltic fragments from the ~100 differentiated parent bodies represented in meteorite collections have been battered to bits [Burbine, T.H., Meibom, A., Binzel, R.P., 1996. Mantle material in the Main Belt: Battered to bits? Met. & Planet. Sci. 31, 607].
The search for habitable planets like Earth around other stars fulfils an ancient imperative to understand our origins and place in the cosmos. The past decade has seen the discovery of hundreds of planets, but nearly all are gas giants like Jupiter
and Saturn. Recent advances in instrumentation and new missions are extending searches to planets the size of the Earth, but closer to their host stars. There are several possible ways such planets could form, and future observations will soon test those theories. Many of these planets we discover may be quite unlike Earth in their surface temperature and composition, but their study will nonetheless inform us about the process of planet formation and the frequency of Earth-like planets around other stars.
