1:45 PM - 2:05 PM
[MIS03-01] Exploring the strategies to characterize temperate rocky planets: JWST and beyond
★Invited Papers
Keywords:exoplanet, planetary atmosphere, terrestrial planet, habitability
Exoplanet surveys have revealed Earth-sized planets in the nearby universe, and some of them orbit in the so-called habitable zones. We are entering the era of detailed characterization of these potentially habitable worlds beyond planetary mass and radius. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which started operation last year, is expected to advance this effort by observing Earth-sized planets around late-M-type stars, primarily Trappist-1, through transmission spectroscopy and thermal emission measurements. Not only do these observations probe the presence of an atmosphere itself, they might also identify the molecules with the strongest absorption features on these astrobiologically interesting planets.
With the purpose of facilitating the discussion on the strategies to characterize potentially habitable exoplanets with the researchers from diverse backgrounds, we review the observational prospects and their relation to the surface environments modeled so far. The combination of the abundance of C-bearing species, if detected, could constrain some of the scenarios for habitable-zone Earth-sized planets, ranging from desiccated worlds to habitable climate with the possible presence of a biosphere that releases specific molecules into the atmosphere. We also discuss the opportunities beyond JWST that would allow us to characterize different aspects of exoplanets, including the surface composition and the magnetospheric properties, highlighting the need for further development on the applications of the insights into the processes operating on solar system planets and satellites.
With the purpose of facilitating the discussion on the strategies to characterize potentially habitable exoplanets with the researchers from diverse backgrounds, we review the observational prospects and their relation to the surface environments modeled so far. The combination of the abundance of C-bearing species, if detected, could constrain some of the scenarios for habitable-zone Earth-sized planets, ranging from desiccated worlds to habitable climate with the possible presence of a biosphere that releases specific molecules into the atmosphere. We also discuss the opportunities beyond JWST that would allow us to characterize different aspects of exoplanets, including the surface composition and the magnetospheric properties, highlighting the need for further development on the applications of the insights into the processes operating on solar system planets and satellites.