Photochemistry of Anoxic Abiotic Habitable Planet Atmospheres: Impact of New H2O Cross Sections

We present a study of the photochemistry of abiotic habitable planets with anoxic CO2-N2 atmospheres. Such worlds are representative of early Earth, Mars, and Venus and analogous exoplanets. Photodissociation of H2O controls the atmospheric photochemistry of these worlds through production of reacti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2020-06, Vol.896 (2)
Main Authors: Ranjan, Sukrit, Schwieterman, Edward W., Harman, Chester, Fateev, Alexander, Sousa-Silva, Clara, Seager, Sara, Hu, Renyu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Absorption cross sections
Astrophysics
Atmosphere
Atmospheric chemistry
Atmospheric models
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations
Exoplanet atmospheres
Exoplanet atmospheric composition
Extrasolar planets
Extrasolar rocky planets
Gases
Habitable planets
Outgassing
Photochemical models
Photochemicals
Photochemistry
Photodissociation
Planetary atmospheres
Planetary theory
Planets
Rainout
Terrestrial planets
Trace gases
Ultraviolet absorption
Venus
Venus atmosphere
Water vapor
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Summary:We present a study of the photochemistry of abiotic habitable planets with anoxic CO2-N2 atmospheres. Such worlds are representative of early Earth, Mars, and Venus and analogous exoplanets. Photodissociation of H2O controls the atmospheric photochemistry of these worlds through production of reactive OH, which dominates the removal of atmospheric trace gases. The near-UV (NUV; >200 nm) absorption cross sections of H2O play an outsized role in OH production; these cross sections were heretofore unmeasured at habitable temperatures (
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ab9363