HST/STIS FUV spectra of K2-18 Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. dos Santos L.A.
  2. Ehrenreich D.
  3. Bourrier V.
  4. Astudillo-Defru N.,Bonfils X.
  5. Forget F.
  6. Lovis C.
  7. Pepe F.
  8. Udry S
  9. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

K2-18 b is a transiting mini-Neptune that orbits a nearby (38pc), cool M3 dwarf and is located inside its region of temperate irradiation. We report on the search for hydrogen escape from the atmosphere K2-18 b using Lyman-{alpha} transit spectroscopy with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We analyzed the time-series of fluxes of the stellar Lyman-{alpha} emission of K2-18 in both its blue- and redshifted wings. We found that the average blueshifted emission of K2-18 decreases by 67%+/-18% during the transit of the planet compared to the pre-transit emission, tentatively indicating the presence of H atoms escaping vigorously and being blown away by radiation pressure. This interpretation is not definitive because it relies on one partial transit. Based on the reconstructed Lyman-{alpha} emission of K2-18, we estimate an EUV irradiation in the range 10^1^-10^2^erg/s/cm^2^ and a total escape rate on the order of 10^8^g/s. The inferred escape rate suggests that the planet will lose only a small fraction (<1%) of its mass and retain its volatile-rich atmosphere during its lifetime. More observations are needed to rule out stellar variability effects, confirm the in-transit absorption, and better assess the atmospheric escape and high-energy environment of K2-18 b.

Keywords
  1. m-stars
  2. exoplanets
  3. spectroscopy
  4. ultraviolet-astronomy
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2020A&A...634L...4D
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/634/L4
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/634/L4
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.36349004

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History

2020-01-31T09:40:44Z
Resource record created
2020-01-31T09:40:44Z
Created
2020-04-29T07:18:22Z
Updated

Contact

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CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
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cds-question@unistra.fr