Constraints on the Habitability of Extrasolar Moons

Heller, René; Barnes, Rory

doi:10.1017/s1743921313012738

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…According to Heller and Barnes (2013), the detection of large exomoons with masses larger than that of Mars should now be feasible, and the development of detection methods is progressing. Heller and Barnes (2014b) give four main reasons why habitable exomoons are objects of interest i.…”

Section: Detection Methods Of Exomoonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large exomoons, as suggested by Kipping et al (2009;, Kaltenegger (2010); Heller and Barnes (2014a;2014b) and others, will likely have a hydrogendominated protoatmosphere (e.g., Ikoma and Genda 2012;Lammer et al 2014), either nebula-based (similar to its host planet, like a warm Neptune or gas giant), or by outgassing of volatiles, such as H 2 O, CO 2 and CH 4 , during the solidification of its magma ocean (e.g., Elkins-Tanton 2008;Erkaev et al 2013;.…”

Section: The Habitable Edge and Orbit Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Although convincing observational evidence of the existence of exomoons is still missing (e.g., Kipping et al 2012), as mentioned before, many studies are not only focusing on exomoon detectability, but also on various habitability aspects concerning these potentially exciting objects. This comprises topics like  tidal heating and energy sources (e.g., Reynolds et al 1987;Scharf 2006;Cassidy et al 2009;Heller 2012;Heller and Barnes 2013;2014b),  orbital stability (e.g., Barnes and O'Brien 2002;Donnison 2010a;2010b;Weidner and Horne 2010;Cuntz et al 2013;Forgan and Kipping 2013;Donnison 2014;Gong et al 2014),  illumination effects (Heller and Barnes 2013;Forgan and Yotov 2014),  Hill stability (e.g., Heller and Barnes 2014b;Donnison 2010a;2010b; Hinkel and Kane 2013),  magnetic environment (Heller and Zuluaga 2013),  formation scenarios (e.g., Kipping et al 2012;Heller and Pudritz 2014), and  biosignatures (Kiang et al 2007;Grenfell et al 2010;Kaltenegger 2010;2013;Rugheimer et al 2013). According to Heller and Barnes (2013), one conclusion that can be drawn from these studies is that one has to distinguish between habitability aspects of exoplanets and exomoons.…”

Section: Aspects Of Exomoon Habitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This quest tries to assess whether exomoons with masses ≥0.25M  are common objects or not, considering that such large satellites do not exist in our Solar System. Heller and Barnes (2014b) state that it is not yet clear if moons that massive (Mars-mass or ten times the mass of Ganymede) are plausible, but considering the many unexpected detections of gas giants in extrasolar systems, they claim that existence of a Mars-sized moon around a Neptune-sized planet may not be implausible. Heller and Barnes (2013) suggest that adequate host planets do exist and that combinations of all currently available observational and theoretical techniques can, in principle, estimate an exomoon's potential for habitability.…”

Section: The Habitable Edge and Orbit Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tidal heating can be an important additional energy source for satellites (Reynolds et al 1987;Scharf 2006;Cassidy et al 2009), in contrast to single planetary bodies in the HZ. In the case of exomoons, tidal heating may keep their surface temperatures at a higher level for a longer time compared to usual planetary bodies (Heller 2012;Heller and Barnes 2013;2014b). Tidal heating depends on the moon's eccentricity, its size, and the semi-major axis of the moon's orbit around its host planet (Heller et al 2011;Leconte et al 2010;Ferraz-Mello et al 2008).…”

Section: Dragging and Escape Of Heavy Dissociation Products By Atomic...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability

Lämmer

Schiefer

Juvan

et al. 2014

Orig Life Evol Biosph

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We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H2O, CO2) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 M⊕ orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the habitable zone of a young active solar-like star. We apply a radiation absorption and hydrodynamic upper atmosphere model to the three studied exomoon cases. We model the escape of hydrogen and dragged dissociation products O and C during the activity saturation phase of the young host star. Because the soft X-ray and EUV radiation of the young host star may be up to ~100 times higher compared to today’s solar value during the first 100 Myr after the system’s origin, an exomoon with a mass < 0.25 M⊕ located in the HZ may not be able to keep an atmosphere because of its low gravity. Depending on the spectral type and XUV activity evolution of the host star, exomoons with masses between ~0.25 and 0.5 M⊕ may evolve to Mars-like habitats. More massive bodies with masses >0.5 M⊕, however, may evolve to habitats that are a mixture of Mars-like and Earth-analogue habitats, so that life may originate and evolve at the exomoon’s surface.

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Section: Detection Methods Of Exomoonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Habitable Edge and Orbit Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Aspects Of Exomoon Habitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Habitable Edge and Orbit Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dragging and Escape Of Heavy Dissociation Products By Atomic...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability

Lämmer

Schiefer

Juvan

et al. 2014

Orig Life Evol Biosph

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Exploring formation scenarios for the exomoon candidate Kepler 1625b I

Moraes

Neto

2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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If confirmed, the Neptune-size exomoon candidate in the Kepler 1625 system will be the first natural satellite outside our Solar system. Its characteristics are nothing alike we know for a satellite. Kepler 1625b I is expected to be as massive as Neptune and to orbit at 40 planetary radii around a ten Jupiter mass planet. Because of its mass and wide orbit, this satellite was first thought to be captured instead of formed in situ. In this work, we investigated the possibility of an in situ formation of this exomoon candidate. To do so, we performed N-body simulations to reproduce the late phases of satellite formation and use a massive circumplanetary disc to explain the mass of this satellite. Our setups started soon after the gaseous nebula dissipation, when the satellite embryos are already formed. Also for selected exomoon systems, we take into account a post-formation tidal evolution. We found that in situ formation is viable to explain the origin of Kepler 1625b I, even when different values for the star–planet separation are considered. We show that for different star–planet separations the minimum amount of solids needed in the circumplanetary disc to form such a satellite varies, the wider is this separation more material is needed. In our simulations of satellite formation, many satellites were formed close to the planet, this scenario changed after the tidal evolution of the systems. We concluded that if the Kepler1625 b satellite system was formed in situ, tidal evolution was an important mechanism to sculpt its final architecture.

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Mapping exomoon trajectories around Earth-like exoplanets

Zotos

Papadakis

Wageh

2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We consider a system in which both the parent star and the Earth-like exoplanet move on circular orbits. Using numerical methods, such as the orbit classification technique, we study all types of trajectories of possible exomoons around the exoplanet. In particular, we scan the phase space around the exoplanet and we distinguish between bounded, collisional, and escaping trajectories, considering both retrograde and prograde types of motion. In the case of bounded regular motion, we also use the grid method and a standard predictor-corrector procedure for revealing the corresponding network of symmetric periodic solutions, while we also compute their linear stability.

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Constraints on the Habitability of Extrasolar Moons

Cited by 3 publications

References 32 publications

Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability

Origin and Stability of Exomoon Atmospheres: Implications for Habitability

Exploring formation scenarios for the exomoon candidate Kepler 1625b I

Mapping exomoon trajectories around Earth-like exoplanets

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