2019/11/19 by Christina Kay, Vladimir S. Airapetian, Theresa Lüftinger +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Corona (planetary geology) #Coronal loop #Coronal mass ejection #Ecliptic #Exoplanet #Magnetic field #Planet #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stars #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab551f
13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
arxiv created 2019/11/19 · openalex created_date 2019/11/22 · openalex publication_date 2019/11/27 · arxiv updated 2020/01/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract Energetic flares and associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from young magnetically active solar-like stars can play a critical role in setting conditions for atmospheric escape as well as penetration of accelerated particles into their atmospheres that promotes formation of biologically relevant molecules. We have used the observationally reconstructed magnetic field of the 0.7 Gyr young Sun’s twin, k 1 Ceti , to study the effects of CME deflections in the magnetic corona of the young Sun and their effects on the impact frequency on the early Venus, Earth, and Mars. We find that the coronal magnetic field deflects the CMEs toward the astrospheric current sheet. This effect suggests that CMEs tend to propagate within a small cone about the ecliptic plane increasing the impact frequency of CMEs with planetary magnetospheres near this plane to ∼30% or by a factor of 6 as compared to previous estimate by Airapetian et al. Our model has important implications for the rise of prebiotic chemistry on early terrestrial planets as well as terrestrial-type exoplanets around young G-K dwarfs.