A SNAP UV Spectroscopic Study of Star-Planet Interactions
Abstract
We propose a SNAP spectroscopic program to survey G and K dwarf exoplanet host stars in the solar neighborhood to characterize the interaction of these stars with their orbiting planetary systems. Stellar and planetary fields may interact for close-in planets, resulting in enhanced stellar activity of the host star and potentially affecting the habitability of planets in the system. A recent study of low-mass stars (France et al. 2016) found evidence for star-planet interactions (SPI) between the stellar transition region/corona and the planets. This work showed a correlation between high-temperature (T_{form} >~ 10^{5} K) stellar emission lines (N V, C IV, and Si IV) and the ratio of planetary mass to the orbital semi-major axis, M_{plan}/a_{plan}. However, that work focused on a limited number of M and K stars. We propose to observe a large number of exoplanet hosting G and K dwarfs to expand the parameter space to a wider range of stellar mass and M_{plan}/a_{plan}. Given the combination of spectroscopic sensitivity and the rich suite of spectral diagnostics in the COS G130M band, this program can be carried out with ~1800 second SNAP observations of G and K dwarf host stars within 50 pc.
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- June 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016hst..prop14633F