• DOI:10.1017/S1473550419000132
• Corpus ID: 152282234

Impact of space weather on climate and habitability of terrestrial-type exoplanets

@article{Airapetian2019ImpactOS,
  title={Impact of space weather on climate and habitability of terrestrial-type exoplanets},
  author={Vladimir S. Airapetian and Rory Barnes and Ofer Cohen and Glyn A. Collinson and William C. Danchi and C. F. Dong and Anthony D. Del Genio and Kevin France and Katherine Garcia-Sage and Alex Glocer and Nat Gopalswamy and John Lee Grenfell and Guillaume Gronoff and Manuel G{\"u}del and K. Herbst and Wade G. Henning and C. H. Jackman and Meng Jin and Colin P. Johnstone and Lisa Kaltenegger and Christina Kay and K. Kobayashi and Weijia Kuang and G. Li and B. J. Lynch and Theresa L{\"u}ftinger and Janet G. Luhmann and Hiroyuki Maehara and Martin G. Mlynczak and Yuta Notsu and Rachel A. Osten and Ramses Mario Ramirez and Sarah Rugheimer and Markus Scheucher and Joshua E. Schlieder and Kazunari Shibata and Clara Sousa-Silva and Vlada Stamenkovi{\'c} and Robert J. Strangeway and Arcadi V. Usmanov and Panagiotis Vergados and Olga P. Verkhoglyadova and Aline A. Vidotto and Mary A. Voytek and Michael J. Way and Gary P. Zank and Yosuke A. Yamashiki},
  journal={International Journal of Astrobiology},
  year={2019},
  volume={19},
  pages={136 - 194}
}

• V. Airapetian, R. Barnes, +44 authors Y. Yamashiki
• Published 10 May 2019
• Physics, Geology
• International Journal of Astrobiology

Abstract The search for life in the Universe is a fundamental problem of astrobiology and modern science. The current progress in the detection of terrestrial-type exoplanets has opened a new avenue in the characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres and in the search for biosignatures of life with the upcoming ground-based and space missions. To specify the conditions favourable for the origin, development and sustainment of life as we know it in other worlds, we need to understand the nature of global (astrospheric), and local (atmospheric and surface) environments of exoplanets in the habitable zones (HZs) around G-K-M dwarf stars including our young Sun. Global environment is formed by propagated disturbances from the planet-hosting stars in the form of stellar flares, coronal mass ejections, energetic particles and winds collectively known as astrospheric space weather. Its characterization will help in understanding how an exoplanetary ecosystem interacts with its host star, as well as in the specification of the physical, chemical and biochemical conditions that can create favourable and/or detrimental conditions for planetary climate and habitability along with evolution of planetary internal dynamics over geological timescales. A key linkage of (astro)physical, chemical and geological processes can only be understood in the framework of interdisciplinary studies with the incorporation of progress in heliophysics, astrophysics, planetary and Earth sciences. The assessment of the impacts of host stars on the climate and habitability of terrestrial (exo)planets will significantly expand the current definition of the HZ to the biogenic zone and provide new observational strategies for searching for signatures of life. The major goal of this paper is to describe and discuss the current status and recent progress in this interdisciplinary field in light of presentations and discussions during the NASA Nexus for Exoplanetary System Science funded workshop ‘Exoplanetary Space Weather, Climate and Habitability’ and to provide a new roadmap for the future development of the emerging field of exoplanetary science and astrobiology.