Predicting low-frequency radio fluxes of known extrasolar planets

• Published in: Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) 2007-11, Vol.475 (1), p.359-368
• Main Authors: Grießmeier, J.-M., Zarka, P., Spreeuw, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Physics; planets and satellites general; plasmas; radiation mechanisms: non-thermal
• ISSN: 0004-6361; 1432-0746; 1432-0756
• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20077397

Context. Close-in giant extrasolar planets (“Hot Jupiters”) are believed to be strong emitters in the decametric radio range. Aims.We present the expected characteristics of the low-frequency magnetospheric radio emission of all currently known extrasolar planets, including the maximum emission frequency and the expected radio flux. We also discuss the escape of exoplanetary radio emission from the vicinity of its source, which imposes additional constraints on detectability. Methods.We compare the different predictions obtained with all four existing analytical models for all currently known exoplanets. We also take care to use realistic values for all input parameters. Results. The four different models for planetary radio emission lead to very different results. The largest fluxes are found for the magnetic energy model, followed by the CME model and the kinetic energy model (for which our results are found to be much less optimistic than those of previous studies). The unipolar interaction model does not predict any observable emission for the present exoplanet census. We also give estimates for the planetary magnetic dipole moment of all currently known extrasolar planets, which will be useful for other studies. Conclusions.Our results show that observations of exoplanetary radio emission are feasible, but that the number of promising targets is not very high. The catalog of targets will be particularly useful for current and future radio observation campaigns (e.g. with the VLA, GMRT, UTR-2 and with LOFAR).