2020/10/30 by Kevin France, Girish Duvvuri, Hilary Egan +20 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.3847/1538-3881/abb465
openalex created_date 2020/09/08 · openalex publication_date 2020/10/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract Recent work has demonstrated that high levels of X-ray and UV activity on young M dwarfs may drive rapid atmospheric escape on temperate, terrestrial planets orbiting within the habitable zone. However, secondary atmospheres on planets orbiting older, less active M dwarfs may be stable and present more promising candidates for biomarker searches. In order to evaluate the potential habitability of Earth-like planets around old, inactive M dwarfs, we present new Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of Barnard’s Star (GJ 699), a 10 Gyr old M3.5 dwarf, acquired as part of the Mega-MUSCLES program. Despite the old age and long rotation period of Barnard’s Star, we observe two FUV ( δ 130 ≈ 5000 s; E 130 ≈ 10 29.5 erg each) and one X-ray ( E X ≈ 10 29.2 erg) flares, and we estimate a high-energy flare duty cycle (defined here as the fraction of the time the star is in a flare state) of ∼25%. A publicly available 5 Å to 10 μ m spectral energy distribution of GJ 699 is created and used to evaluate the atmospheric stability of a hypothetical, unmagnetized terrestrial planet in the habitable zone ( r HZ ∼ 0.1 au). Both thermal and nonthermal escape modeling indicate (1) the quiescent stellar XUV flux does not lead to strong atmospheric escape: atmospheric heating rates are comparable to periods of high solar activity on modern Earth, and (2) the flare environment could drive the atmosphere into a hydrodynamic loss regime at the observed flare duty cycle: sustained exposure to the flare environment of GJ 699 results in the loss of ≈87 Earth atmospheres Gyr −1 through thermal processes and ≈3 Earth atmospheres Gyr −1 through ion loss processes. These results suggest that if rocky planet atmospheres can survive the initial ∼5 Gyr of high stellar activity, or if a second-generation atmosphere can be formed or acquired, the flare duty cycle may be the controlling stellar parameter for the stability of Earth-like atmospheres around old M stars.