Williams, Andrew David Cenydd;
(2005)
JIME - The exoplanet ionospheric model.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Recent discoveries in the field of planetary astronomy have yielded a large number of Jupiter-mass planets orbiting main sequence stars such as the sun. A significant number of these are what as known as 51-Peg type planets, whose primary characteristics are their very small orbital radii (0.1AU or less), tidally locked rotation period and circularised orbits. This thesis describes the modifications made to JIM, the University College London Jovian Ionospheric Model in order to simulate the upper atmospheric conditions that may be expected to exist in a 51-Peg planet, notably the addition of H3+ cooling and stability improvements. Modelling simulations using the new JIME have determined that the subsolar H3+ column density for a 51-Peg planet are two orders of magnitude greater than on Jupiter with a corresponding increase in H3+ cooling, leading to the conclusion that the upper atmosphere temperature will be lower than expected. This has consequences for both planetary detection due to infrared radiation emission and survivability due to atmospheric evaporation.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | JIME - The exoplanet ionospheric model |
| Identifier: | PQ ETD:602463 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1446538 |
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