论文标题

碳分馏能否在温带亚核的大气中提供空中生物圈的证据?

Can Carbon Fractionation Provide Evidence for Aerial Biospheres in the Atmospheres of Temperate Sub-Neptunes?

论文作者

Glidden, Ana, Seager, Sara, Huang, Jingcheng, Petkowski, Janusz J., Ranjan, Sukrit

论文摘要

在其他世界上寻找生命迹象的地方主要集中在陆地行星上。然而,最近的工作认为,温带子纽扣的气氛可能存在生命。在这里,我们评估了二氧化碳同位素学作为空中寿命的证据。碳同位素特别感兴趣,因为代谢过程优先使用$^{12} $ c以$^{13} $ c使用。原则上,即将到来的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜(JWST)将能够在$^{12} $ c和$^{13} $ c同位素co $ _ {2} $的$^{13} $ c iSotopologues中解决,但不是CO和CO和CH $ _ {4} $。我们模拟了Co $ _ {2} $同位素的观察结果,在H $ _ {2} $ - 我们最近的($ <40 $ pc)的主导气氛,温带(平衡温度为250-350 K),带有M矮人宿主星。我们发现$^{13} $ co $ _ {2} $和$^{12} $ co $ _ {2} $如果大气为h $ _ {2} $ - 以最适合的目标为co $ _ {2} $的几个百分点,具有最适合的目标,具有两种最适合的目标,这些目标是两种最佳的构图$^{12} $ co $ _ {2} $和$^{13} $ co $ _ {2} $。 Neptune样金属度为100 $ \ times $ solar,a c/o为0.55,我们无法区分$^{13} $ co $ _ {2} $和$^{12} $ co $ $ _ {2} $在温带子neptepunes的气氛中。如果大气成分在很大程度上遵循金属缩放量,那么在h $ _ {2} $中,co $ _ {2} $的浓度太低,无法与JWST区分Co $ _ {2} $ isotopologues。相比之下,在较高的金属度下,将会有更多的co $ _ {2} $,但是较小的大气尺度高度使测量不可能。对于JWST时代,二氧化碳同位素不太可能是有用的生物签名气体。取而代之的是,应使用同位素测量值来评估行星和超球星系的形成机制。

The search for signs of life on other worlds has largely focused on terrestrial planets. Recent work, however, argues that life could exist in the atmospheres of temperate sub-Neptunes. Here, we evaluate the usefulness of carbon dioxide isotopologues as evidence of aerial life. Carbon isotopes are of particular interest as metabolic processes preferentially use the lighter $^{12}$C over $^{13}$C. In principle, the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to spectrally resolve the $^{12}$C and $^{13}$C isotopologues of CO$_{2}$, but not CO and CH$_{4}$. We simulated observations of CO$_{2}$ isotopologues in the H$_{2}$-dominated atmospheres of our nearest ($< 40$ pc), temperate (equilibrium temperature of 250-350 K) sub-Neptunes with M dwarf host stars. We find $^{13}$CO$_{2}$ and $^{12}$CO$_{2}$ distinguishable if the atmosphere is H$_{2}$-dominated with a few percentage points of CO$_{2}$ for the most idealized target with an Earth-like composition of the two most abundant isotopologues, $^{12}$CO$_{2}$ and $^{13}$CO$_{2}$. With a Neptune-like metallicity of 100$\times$ solar and a C/O of 0.55, we are unable to distinguish between $^{13}$CO$_{2}$ and $^{12}$CO$_{2}$ in the atmospheres of temperate sub-Neptunes. If atmospheric composition largely follows metallicity scaling, the concentration of CO$_{2}$ in a H$_{2}$-dominated atmosphere will be too low to distinguish CO$_{2}$ isotopologues with JWST. In contrast, at higher metallicities, there will be more CO$_{2}$, but the smaller atmospheric scale height makes the measurement impossible. Carbon dioxide isotopologues are unlikely to be useful biosignature gases for the JWST era. Instead, isotopologue measurements should be used to evaluate formation mechanisms of planets and exoplanetary systems.

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