We report on the results of the Sun in Time multi-wavelength program (X-rays to the UV) of solar analogs with ages covering ∼0.1-7 Gyr. The chief science goals are to study the solar magnetic dynamo and to determine the radiative and magnetic properties of the Sun during its evolution across the main sequence. The present paper focuses on the latter goal, which has the ultimate purpose of providing the spectral irradiance evolution of solar-type stars to be used in the study and modeling of planetary atmospheres. The results from the Sun in Time program suggest that the coronal X-ray-EUV emissions of the young main-sequence Sun were ∼100-1000 times stronger than those of the present Sun. Similarly, the transition region and chromospheric FUV-UV emissions of the young Sun are expected to be 20-60 and 10-20 times stronger, respectively, than at present. When considering the integrated high-energy emission from 1 to 1200 A the resulting relationship indicates that the solar high-energy flux was about 2.5 times the present value 2.5 Gyr ago and about 6 times the present value about 3.5 Gyr ago (when life supposedly arose on Earth). The strong radiation emissions inferred should have had major influences on the thermal structure, photochemistry, and photoionization of planetary atmospheres and also played an important role in the development of primitive life in the Solar System. Some examples of the application of the Sun in Time results on exoplanets and on early Solar System planets are discussed.

Context. Thanks to remarkable progress, radial velocity surveys are now able to detect terrestrial planets at habitable distance from low-mass stars. Recently, two planets with minimum masses below 10 M ⊕ have been reported in a triple system around the M-type star Gliese 581. These planets are found at orbital distances comparable to the location of the boundaries of the habitable zone of their star. Aims. In this study, we assess the habitability of planets Gl 581c and Gl 581d (assuming that their actual masses are close to their minimum masses) by estimating the locations of the habitable-zone boundaries of the star and discussing the uncertainties affecting their determination. An additional purpose of this paper is to provide simplified formulae for estimating the edges of the habitable zone. These may be used to evaluate the astrobiological potential of terrestrial exoplanets that will hopefully be discovered in the near future. Methods. Using results from radiative-convective atmospheric models and constraints from the evolution of Venus and Mars, we derive theoretical and empirical habitable distances for stars of F, G, K, and M spectral types. Results. Planets Gl 581c and Gl 581d are near to, but outside, what can be considered as the conservative habitable zone. Planet "c" receives 30% more energy from its star than Venus from the Sun, with an increased radiative forcing caused by the spectral energy distribution of Gl 581. This planet is thus unlikely to host liquid water, although its habitability cannot be positively ruled out by theoretical models due to uncertainties affecting cloud properties and cloud cover. Highly reflective clouds covering at least 75% of the day side of the planet could indeed prevent the water reservoir from being entirely vaporized. Irradiation conditions of planet "d" are comparable to those of early Mars, which is known to have hosted surface liquid water. Thanks to the greenhouse effect of CO 2 -ice clouds, also invoked to explain the early Martian climate, planet "d" might be a better candidate for the first exoplanet known to be potentially habitable. A mixture of several greenhouse gases could also maintain habitable conditions on this planet, although the geochemical processes that could stabilize such a super-greenhouse atmosphere are still unknown.Key words. astrobiology -atmospheric effects -stars: planetary systems IntroductionThe M-type star Gl 581 hosts at least 3 planets, which were detected using radial velocity measurements by Bonfils et al. (2005) (planet "b") and Udry et al. (2007) (planets "c" and "d"). The properties of this star and its planets are given in Table 1. Before this discovery, only two exoplanets were known to have a minimum mass below 10 M ⊕ , which is usually considered as a boundary between terrestrial and giant planets, the latter having a significant fraction of their mass in an H 2 -He envelope. The first one was GJ 876d, a very hot planet (P ≤ 2 days) with a minimum mass of 5.9 M ⊕ (Rivera et al. 2005). The other one is OGLE-0...

No abstract

Context. The current distribution of planet mass vs. incident stellar X-ray flux supports the idea that photoevaporation of the atmosphere may take place in close-in planets. Integrated effects have to be accounted for. A proper calculation of the mass loss rate through photoevaporation requires the estimation of the total irradiation from the whole XUV (X-rays and extreme ultraviolet, EUV) range. Aims. The purpose of this paper is to extend the analysis of the photoevaporation in planetary atmospheres from the accessible X-rays to the mostly unobserved EUV range by using the coronal models of stars to calculate the EUV contribution to the stellar spectra. The mass evolution of planets can be traced assuming that thermal losses dominate the mass loss of their atmospheres. Methods. We determine coronal models for 82 stars with exoplanets that have X-ray observations available. Then a synthetic spectrum is produced for the whole XUV range (∼1−912 Å). The determination of the EUV stellar flux, calibrated with real EUV data, allows us to calculate the accumulated effects of the XUV irradiation on the planet atmosphere with time, as well as the mass evolution for planets with known density. Results. We calibrate for the first time a relation of the EUV luminosity with stellar age valid for late-type stars. In a sample of 109 exoplanets, few planets with masses larger than ∼1.5 M J receive high XUV flux, suggesting that intense photoevaporation takes place in a short period of time, as previously found in X-rays. The scenario is also consistent with the observed distribution of planet masses with density. The accumulated effects of photoevaporation over time indicate that HD 209458b may have lost 0.2 M J since an age of 20 Myr. Conclusions. Coronal radiation produces rapid photoevaporation of the atmospheres of planets close to young late-type stars. More complex models are needed to explain the observations fully. Spectral energy distributions in the XUV range are made available for stars in the sample through the Virtual Observatory for the use in future planet atmospheric models.

No abstract