Overview
- First topical primer for non-specialists in the field
- Written by a leading expert in the field
- Includes many figures and tables
Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics (LNP, volume 955)
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
Keywords
About this book
Like planets in our solar system, exoplanets form, evolve, and interact with their host stars in many ways. As exoplanets acquire material and grow to the final size, their atmospheres are subjected to intense UV and X-radiation and high-energy particle bombardment from the young host star. Whether a planet can retain its atmosphere and the conditions for significant mass loss both depend upon the strength of the host star's high-energy radiation and wind, the distance of the exoplanet from its host star, the gravitational potential of the exoplanet, and the initial chemical composition of the exoplanet atmosphere.
This introductory overview describes the physical processes responsible for the emission of radiation and acceleration of winds of host stars that together control the environment of an exoplanet, focusing on topics that are critically important for understanding exoplanetary atmospheres but are usually not posed from the perspective of host stars. Accordingly, both host stars and exoplanets are not studied in isolation but are treated as integrated systems. Stellar magnetic fields, which are the energy source for activity phenomena including high-energy radiation and winds, play a critical role in determining whether exoplanets are habitable.
This text is primarily for researchers and graduate students who are studying exoplanet atmospheres and habitability, but who may not have a background in the physics and phenomenology of host stars that provide the environment in which exoplanets evolve. It provides a comprehensive overview of this broad topic rather than going deeply into many technical aspects but includes a large list of references to guide those interested in pursuing these questions. Nonspecialists with a scientific background should also find this text a valuable resource for understanding the critical issues of contemporary exoplanet research.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Host Stars and their Effects on Exoplanet Atmospheres
Book Subtitle: An Introductory Overview
Authors: Jeffrey Linsky
Series Title: Lecture Notes in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11452-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-11451-0Published: 24 May 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-11452-7Published: 23 May 2019
Series ISSN: 0075-8450
Series E-ISSN: 1616-6361
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 273
Number of Illustrations: 39 b/w illustrations, 104 illustrations in colour
Topics: Planetary Sciences, Astrobiology, Atmospheric Sciences, Planetology, Solar and Heliospheric Physics , Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics)