0520535 - ÚFCH JH 2021 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Rimmer, P. B. - Ferus, Martin - Waldmann, I. P. - Knížek, Antonín - Kalvaitis, D. - Ivanek, Ondřej - Kubelík, Petr - Yurchenko, S. N. - Burian, Tomáš - Dostál, J. - Juha, L. - Dudžák, R. - Krus, M. - Tennyson, J. - Civiš, Svatopluk - Archibald, A. T. - Granville-Willett, A.
Identifiable Acetylene Features Predicted for Young Earth-like Exoplanets with Reducing Atmospheres Undergoing Heavy Bombardment.
Astrophysical Journal. Roč. 888, č. 1 (2020), č. článku 21. ISSN 0004-637X. E-ISSN 1538-4357
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT EF16_019/0000778; GA ČR GA19-03314S
Institutional support: RVO:61388955
Keywords : exomol line lists * reaction-kinetics * solar-activity * giant impact * amino-acids * chemistry * methane * laser * hcn * evolution * Exoplanet atmospheres * Planetary atmospheres * Impact phenomena
OECD category: Physical chemistry
Impact factor: 5.877, year: 2020 ; AIS: 1.537, rok: 2020
Method of publishing: Limited access
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab55e8

The chemical environments of young planets are assumed to be largely influenced by the impacts of bodies lingering on unstable trajectories after the dissolution of the protoplanetary disk. We explore the chemical consequences of impacts within the context of reducing planetary atmospheres dominated by carbon monoxide, methane, and molecular nitrogen. A terawatt high-power laser was selected in order to simulate the airglow plasma and blast wave surrounding the impactor. The chemical results of these experiments are then applied to a theoretical atmospheric model. The impact simulation results in substantial volume mixing ratios within the reactor of 5% hydrogen cyanide (HCN), 8% acetylene (C2H2), 5% cyanoacetylene (HC3N), and 1% ammonia (NH3). These yields are combined with estimated impact rates for the early Earth to predict surface boundary conditions for an atmospheric model. We show that impacts might have served as sources of energy that would have led to steady-state surface quantities of 0.4% C2H2, 400 ppm HCN, and 40 ppm NH3. We provide simulated transit spectra for an Earth-like exoplanet with this reducing atmosphere during and shortly after eras of intense impacts. We predict that acetylene is as observable as other molecular features on exoplanets with reducing atmospheres that have recently gone through their own ´heavy bombardments´, with prominent features at 3.05 and 10.5 mu m.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0305202