Impact of Clouds and Hazes on the Simulated JWST Transmission Spectra of Habitable Zone Planets in the TRAPPIST-1 System

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dc.contributor.authorFauchez, Thomas J.
dc.contributor.authorTurbet, Martin
dc.contributor.authorVillanueva, Geronimo L.
dc.contributor.authorWolf, Eric T.
dc.contributor.authorArney, Giada
dc.contributor.authorKopparapu, Ravi K.
dc.contributor.authorLincowski, Andrew
dc.contributor.authorMandell, Avi
dc.contributor.authorWit, Julien de
dc.contributor.authorPidhorodetska, Daria
dc.contributor.authorDomagal-Goldman, Shawn D.
dc.contributor.authorStevenson, Kevin B.
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-25T21:04:32Z
dc.date.available2021-01-25T21:04:32Z
dc.date.issued2019-12-19
dc.description.abstractThe TRAPPIST-1 system, consisting of an ultracool host star having seven known Earth-sized planets, will be a prime target for atmospheric characterization with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). However, the detectability of atmospheric molecular species may be severely impacted by the presence of clouds and/or hazes. In this work, we perform 3D general circulation model (GCM) simulations with the LMD-G model supplemented by 1D photochemistry simulations at the terminator with the Atmos model to simulate several possible atmospheres for TRAPPIST-1e, 1f, and 1g: (1) modern Earth, (2) Archean Earth, and (3) CO₂-rich atmospheres. The JWST synthetic transit spectra were computed using the GSFC Planetary Spectrum Generator. We find that the TRAPPIST-1e, 1f, and 1g atmospheres, with clouds and/or hazes, could be detected using JWST's NIRSpec Prism from the CO₂ absorption line at 4.3 μm in less than 15 transits at 3σ or less than 35 transits at 5σ. However, our analysis suggests that other gases would require hundreds (or thousands) of transits to be detectable. We also find that H₂O, mostly confined in the lower atmosphere, is very challenging to detect for these planets or similar systems if the planets' atmospheres are not in a moist greenhouse state. This result demonstrates that the use of GCMs, self-consistently taking into account the effect of clouds and subsaturation, is crucial to evaluate the detectability of atmospheric molecules of interest, as well as for interpreting future detections in a more global (and thus robust and relevant) approach.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipT.J.F., G.L.V., G.A., R.K.K., A.M., and S.D.D.-G. acknowledge support from the GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration (SEEC), which is funded in part by the NASA Planetary Science Division’s Internal Scientist Funding Model. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 724427/FOUR ACES). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 832738/ESCAPE. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for comments that greatly improved our manuscript. We also thank Amy Houghton from USRA for her proofreading of the manuscripten_US
dc.description.urihttps://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5862en_US
dc.format.extent27 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2wygl-xi0j
dc.identifier.citationFauchez, Thomas J.; Turbet, Martin; Villanueva, Geronimo L.; Wolf, Eric T.; Arney, Giada; Kopparapu, Ravi K.; Lincowski, Andrew; Mandell, Avi; Wit, Julien de; Pidhorodetska, Daria; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn D.; Stevenson, Kevin B.; Impact of Clouds and Hazes on the Simulated JWST Transmission Spectra of Habitable Zone Planets in the TRAPPIST-1 System; The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 887, Number 2 (2019); https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5862en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5862
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/20609
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherIOP Publishingen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Staff Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsPublic Domain Mark 1.0*
dc.rightsThis work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/*
dc.titleImpact of Clouds and Hazes on the Simulated JWST Transmission Spectra of Habitable Zone Planets in the TRAPPIST-1 Systemen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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