2024A&A...684A..20N -
Astronomy and Astrophysics, volume 684A20 (2024/4-1)
Effects of planetary day-night temperature gradients on He 1083 nm transit spectra.
NAIL F., OKLOPCIC A. and MacLEOD M.
Abstract (from CDS):
A notable fraction of helium observations probing the evaporating atmospheres of short-period gas giants at 1083 nm exhibit a blueshift during transit, which might be indicative of a day-to-night side flow. In this study, we explore the gas dynamic effects of day-to-night temperature contrasts on the escaping atmosphere of a tidally locked planet. Using a combination of 3D hydrodynamic simulations and radiative transfer post-processing, we modeled the transmission spectra of the metastable helium triplet. Our key findings are as follows: (1) Increasing the day-night anisotropy leads to a narrowing of the helium line and an increase in the blueshift of the line centroid of a few km s–1. (2) The velocity shift of the line depends on the line-forming altitude, with higher planetary mass-loss rates causing the line to form at higher altitudes, resulting in a more pronounced velocity shift. (3) A critical point of day-night anisotropy comes about when the blueshift saturates, due to turbulent flows generated by outflow material falling back onto the planet's night side. (4) A strong stellar wind and the presence of turbulent flows may induce time variations in the velocity shift. Assuming that the day-night temperature gradient is the main cause of the observed blueshifts in the He-1083 nm triplet, the correlation between the velocity shift and day-night anisotropy provides an opportunity to constrain the temperature gradient of the line-forming region.
Abstract Copyright:
© The Authors 2024
Journal keyword(s):
hydrodynamics - radiative transfer - planets and satellites: atmospheres
Simbad objects:
11
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