Lightning on Exoplanets

Lightning climatology of exoplanets and brown dwarfs guided by Solar System data

Authors:

Hodosán et al

Abstract:

Clouds form on extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs where lightning could occur. Lightning is a tracer of atmospheric convection, cloud formation and ionization processes as known from the Solar System, and may be significant for the formation of prebiotic molecules. We study lightning climatology for the different atmospheric environments of Earth, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. We present lightning distribution maps for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, and flash densities for these planets and Venus, based on optical and/or radio measurements from the WWLLN and STARNET radio networks, the LIS/OTD satellite instruments, the Galileo, Cassini, New Horizons and Venus Express spacecraft. We also present flash densities calculated for several phases of two volcano eruptions, Eyjafjallajökull's (2010) and Mt Redoubt's (2009). We estimate lightning rates for sample, transiting and directly imaged extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs. Based on the large variety of exoplanets, six categories are suggested for which we use the lightning occurrence information from the Solar System. We examine lightning energy distributions for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. We discuss how strong stellar activity may support lightning activity. We provide a lower limit of the total number of flashes that might occur on transiting planets during their full transit as input for future studies. We find that volcanically very active planets might show the largest lightning flash densities. When applying flash densities of the large Saturnian storm from 2010/11, we find that the exoplanet HD 189733b would produce high lightning occurrence even during its short transit.

Lightning Detected on hot Jupiter HAT-P-11b?

Lightning as a possible source of the radio emission on HAT-P-11b

Authors:

Hodosan et al

Abstract:

Lightning induced radio emission has been observed on Solar System planets. There have been many attempts to observe exoplanets in the radio wavelength, however, no unequivocal detection has been reported. Lecavelier des Etangs et al. (2013, A&A, 552, A65) carried out radio transit observations of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b, and suggested that a small part of the radio flux can be attributed to the planet. In the current letter, we assume that this signal is real, and study if this radio emission could be caused by lightning in the atmosphere of the planet. We find that a lightning storm with 530 times larger flash densities than the Earth-storms with the largest lightning activity is needed to produce the observed signal from HAT-P-11b. The optical counterpart would nevertheless be undetectable with current technology. We show that HCN produced by lightning chemistry of such thunderstorms is observable 2-3 years after the storm, which produces signatures in the L (3.0μm − 4.0μm) and N (7.5μm − 14.5μm) infrared bands. We conclude that future, combined radio and infrared observations may lead to lightning detection on planets outside the Solar System.

Detecting Lightning in Brown Dwarf Atmospheres

Flash ionisation signature in coherent cyclotron emission from Brown Dwarfs

Authors:

Vorgul et al

Abstract:

Brown dwarfs form mineral clouds in their atmospheres, where charged particles can produce large-scale discharges in form of lightning resulting in a substantial sudden increase of local ionisation. Brown dwarfs are observed to emit cyclotron radio emission. We show that signatures of strong transient atmospheric ionisation events (flash ionisation) can be imprinted on a pre-existing radiation. Detection of such flash ionisation events will open investigations into the ionisation state and atmospheric dynamics. Such ionisation events can also result from explosion shock waves, bursts or eruptions. We present an analytical model that describes the modulation of a pre-existing electromagnetic radiation by a time-dependent (flash) conductivity that is characteristic for flash ionisation events like lightning. Our conductivity model reproduces the conductivity function derived from observations of Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes, and is applicable to astrophysical objects with strong temporal variations in the local ionization, as in planetary atmospheres and protoplanetary disks. We show that the field responds with a characteristic flash-shaped pulse to a conductivity flash of intermediate intensity. More powerful ionisation events result in smaller variations of the initial radiation, or in its damping. We show that the characteristic damping of the response field for high-power initial radiation carries information about the ionisation flash magnitude and duration. The duration of the pulse amplification or the damping is consistently shorter for larger conductivity variations and can be used to evaluate the intensity of the flash ionisation. Our work suggests that cyclotron emission could be probe signals for electrification processes inside BD atmosphere.

Lightning (!) in Protoplanetary Disks

Development of a Method for the Observation of Lightning in Protoplanetary Disks Using Ion Lines

Authors:

Muranushi et al

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose observational methods for detecting lightning in protoplanetary disks. We do so by calculating the critical electric field strength in the lightning matrix gas (LMG), the parts of the disk where the electric field is strong enough to cause lightning. That electric field accelerates multiple positive ion species to characteristic terminal velocities. In this paper, we present three distinct discharge models, with corresponding critical electric fields. We simulate the position-velocity diagrams and the integrated emission maps for the models. We calculate the measure of sensitivity values for detection of the models, and for distinguishing between the models. At the distance of TW-Hya (54pc), LMG that occupies 2π in azimuth and 25au less than r less than 50au is 1200σ- to 4000σ-detectable. The lower limits of the radii of 5σ-detectable LMG clumps are between 1.6 au and 5.3 au, depending on the models.

Lightning and the Generation of Organics in Exoplanetary Atmospheres

A Chemical Kinetics Network for Lightning and Life in Planetary Atmospheres

Authors:

Rimmer et al

Abstract:

There are many open questions about prebiotic chemistry in both planetary and exoplanetary environments. The increasing number of known exoplanets and other ultra-cool, substellar objects has propelled the desire to detect life and prebiotic chemistry outside the solar system. We present an ion-neutral chemical network constructed from scratch, Stand2015, that treats hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen chemistry accurately within a temperature range between 100 K and 30000 K. Formation pathways for glycine and other organic molecules are included. The network is complete up to H6C2N2O3. Stand2015 is successfully tested against atmospheric chemistry models for HD209458b, Jupiter and the present-day Earth using a simple 1D photochemistry/diffusion code. Our results for the early Earth agree with those of Kasting (1993) for CO2, H2, CO and O2, but do not agree for water and atomic oxygen. We use the network to simulate an experiment where varied chemical initial conditions are irradiated by UV light. The result from our simulation is that more glycine is produced when more ammonia and methane is present. Very little glycine is produced in the absence of any molecular nitrogen and oxygen. This suggests that production of glycine is inhibited if a gas is too strongly reducing. Possible applications and limitations of the chemical kinetics network are also discussed.

Lightning in Brown Dwarf & Exoplanet Exoatmospheres

IONIZATION IN ATMOSPHERES OF BROWN DWARFS AND EXTRASOLAR PLANETS VI: PROPERTIES OF LARGE-SCALE DISCHARGE EVENTS

Authors:

Bailey et al

Abstract:

Mineral clouds in substellar atmospheres play a special role as a catalyst for a variety of charge processes. If clouds are charged, the surrounding environment becomes electrically activated, and ensembles of charged grains are electrically discharging (e.g., by lightning), which significantly influences the local chemistry creating conditions similar to those thought responsible for life in early planetary atmospheres. We note that such lightning discharges contribute also to the ionization state of the atmosphere. We apply scaling laws for electrical discharge processes from laboratory measurements and numerical experiments to DRIFT-PHOENIX model atmosphere results to model the discharge's propagation downward (as lightning) and upward (as sprites) through the atmospheric clouds. We evaluate the spatial extent and energetics of lightning discharges. The atmospheric volume affected (e.g., by increase of temperature or electron number) is larger in a brown dwarf atmosphere (108-1010 m3) than in a giant gas planet (104-106 m3). Our results suggest that the total dissipated energy in one event is less than 10^12 J for all models of initial solar metallicity. First attempts to show the influence of lightning on the local gas phase indicate an increase of small carbohydrate molecules like CH and CH2 at the expense of CO and CH4. Dust-forming molecules are destroyed and the cloud particle properties are frozen in unless enough time is available for complete evaporation. We summarize instruments potentially suitable to observe lightning on extrasolar objects.