Observational Evidence of Possible Volcanic Activity on an Extrasolar Planet
Abstract
55 Cancri e is a super-Earth exoplanet on a rapid orbit 18-hour orbit around a Sun-like star. Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the planet have revealed that its secondary eclipse depth is time-variable, indicating that the planet's brightness temperature changes in time. Having ruled out other physical sources of variability (i.e. stellar activity, planetary rotation), we explore a model that explains this change in temperature with periodic volcanic activity. We find that a planet with a hot surface that outgasses reflective volcanic grains can explain the fluctuations in brightness temperature. While future observations are required to constrain the level and frequency of variability, 55 Cancri e represents one of the most promising laboratories for testing theories of volcanic worlds outside of our solar system.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.P44A..07T
- Keywords:
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- 0328 Exosphere;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0343 Planetary atmospheres;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 6207 Comparative planetology;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTSDE: 6296 Extra-solar planets;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS