EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS
Most previous studies on how obliquity affects planetary habitability focused on planets around Sun-like stars. Their conclusions may not be applicable to habitable planets around M dwarfs due to the tidal-locking feature and associated insolation pattern of these planets. Here we use a comprehensiv...
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ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
2016
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/438160 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 |
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ftpekinguniv:oai:localhost:20.500.11897/438160 2023-05-15T18:18:48+02:00 EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS Wang, Yuwei Liu, Yonggang Tian, Feng Yang, Jun Ding, Feng Zhou, Linjiong Hu, Yongyun Wang, YW (reprint author), Peking Univ, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Sch Phys, Lab Climate & Ocean Atmosphere Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China. Peking Univ, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Sch Phys, Lab Climate & Ocean Atmosphere Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China. Tsinghua Univ, Ctr Earth Syst, Key Lab Earth Syst Modeling, Minist Educ,Sci, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China. Joint Ctr Global Change Studies JCGCS, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China. Univ Chicago, Dept Geophys Sci, 5734 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 USA. NOAA, Geophys Fluid Dynam Lab, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA. Princeton Univ, Atmospher Ocean Sci Program, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA. 2016 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/438160 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 en eng ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS.2016,823,(1). 1396265 2041-8205 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/438160 2041-8213 doi:10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 WOS:000376391700020 SCI astrobiology planets and satellites: atmospheres MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS ECCENTRIC ORBITS INNER EDGE ZONE PLANETS CLIMATES EVOLUTION PATTERNS SYSTEM EARTHS Journal 2016 ftpekinguniv https://doi.org/20.500.11897/438160 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 2021-08-01T10:50:45Z Most previous studies on how obliquity affects planetary habitability focused on planets around Sun-like stars. Their conclusions may not be applicable to habitable planets around M dwarfs due to the tidal-locking feature and associated insolation pattern of these planets. Here we use a comprehensive three-dimensional atmospheric general circulation model to investigate this issue. We find that the climates of planets with higher obliquities are generally warmer, consistent with previous studies. The mechanism of warming is, however, completely different. Significant reduction of low clouds, instead of sea-ice cover, within the substeller region (which moves if the obliquity is non-zero) is the key in warming M-dwarf planets with high obliquities. For a total insolation of 1237 W m(-2), the climate warms by 21 K when the obliquity increases from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. Correspondingly, the runaway greenhouse inner edge of the habitable zone shifts outward from 2500 to 2100 W m(-2). The moist greenhouse inner edge, based on our crude estimation, shifts less, from 2180 to 2075 W m(-2). Near the outer edge, in contrast, the climates of planets with higher obliquities are colder due to their reduced ability to maintain a hotspot at the surface. Therefore, the outer edge moves inward when obliquity is increased, opposite to the finding of previous studies on planets around Sun-like stars. Our results thus indicate that the habitable zone for M dwarfs narrows if the obliquity of their planets increases. National Natural Science Foundation of China [41375072, 41530423, 41175039]; Startup Fund of the Ministry of Education of China SCI(E) ARTICLE 1 823 Journal/Newspaper Sea ice Peking University Institutional Repository (PKU IR) The Astrophysical Journal 823 1 L20 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Peking University Institutional Repository (PKU IR) |
op_collection_id |
ftpekinguniv |
language |
English |
topic |
astrobiology planets and satellites: atmospheres MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS ECCENTRIC ORBITS INNER EDGE ZONE PLANETS CLIMATES EVOLUTION PATTERNS SYSTEM EARTHS |
spellingShingle |
astrobiology planets and satellites: atmospheres MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS ECCENTRIC ORBITS INNER EDGE ZONE PLANETS CLIMATES EVOLUTION PATTERNS SYSTEM EARTHS Wang, Yuwei Liu, Yonggang Tian, Feng Yang, Jun Ding, Feng Zhou, Linjiong Hu, Yongyun EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
topic_facet |
astrobiology planets and satellites: atmospheres MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS ECCENTRIC ORBITS INNER EDGE ZONE PLANETS CLIMATES EVOLUTION PATTERNS SYSTEM EARTHS |
description |
Most previous studies on how obliquity affects planetary habitability focused on planets around Sun-like stars. Their conclusions may not be applicable to habitable planets around M dwarfs due to the tidal-locking feature and associated insolation pattern of these planets. Here we use a comprehensive three-dimensional atmospheric general circulation model to investigate this issue. We find that the climates of planets with higher obliquities are generally warmer, consistent with previous studies. The mechanism of warming is, however, completely different. Significant reduction of low clouds, instead of sea-ice cover, within the substeller region (which moves if the obliquity is non-zero) is the key in warming M-dwarf planets with high obliquities. For a total insolation of 1237 W m(-2), the climate warms by 21 K when the obliquity increases from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. Correspondingly, the runaway greenhouse inner edge of the habitable zone shifts outward from 2500 to 2100 W m(-2). The moist greenhouse inner edge, based on our crude estimation, shifts less, from 2180 to 2075 W m(-2). Near the outer edge, in contrast, the climates of planets with higher obliquities are colder due to their reduced ability to maintain a hotspot at the surface. Therefore, the outer edge moves inward when obliquity is increased, opposite to the finding of previous studies on planets around Sun-like stars. Our results thus indicate that the habitable zone for M dwarfs narrows if the obliquity of their planets increases. National Natural Science Foundation of China [41375072, 41530423, 41175039]; Startup Fund of the Ministry of Education of China SCI(E) ARTICLE 1 823 |
author2 |
Wang, YW (reprint author), Peking Univ, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Sch Phys, Lab Climate & Ocean Atmosphere Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China. Peking Univ, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Sch Phys, Lab Climate & Ocean Atmosphere Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China. Tsinghua Univ, Ctr Earth Syst, Key Lab Earth Syst Modeling, Minist Educ,Sci, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China. Joint Ctr Global Change Studies JCGCS, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China. Univ Chicago, Dept Geophys Sci, 5734 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 USA. NOAA, Geophys Fluid Dynam Lab, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA. Princeton Univ, Atmospher Ocean Sci Program, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA. |
format |
Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wang, Yuwei Liu, Yonggang Tian, Feng Yang, Jun Ding, Feng Zhou, Linjiong Hu, Yongyun |
author_facet |
Wang, Yuwei Liu, Yonggang Tian, Feng Yang, Jun Ding, Feng Zhou, Linjiong Hu, Yongyun |
author_sort |
Wang, Yuwei |
title |
EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
title_short |
EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
title_full |
EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
title_fullStr |
EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
title_full_unstemmed |
EFFECTS OF OBLIQUITY ON THE HABITABILITY OF EXOPLANETS AROUND M DWARFS |
title_sort |
effects of obliquity on the habitability of exoplanets around m dwarfs |
publisher |
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/438160 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_source |
SCI |
op_relation |
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS.2016,823,(1). 1396265 2041-8205 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/438160 2041-8213 doi:10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 WOS:000376391700020 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11897/438160 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L20 |
container_title |
The Astrophysical Journal |
container_volume |
823 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
L20 |
_version_ |
1766195495683751936 |