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Studying the climate of circumbinary planets

Untersuchung des Klimas zirkumbinärer Planeten
Authors: Mayer, Johannes;

Studying the climate of circumbinary planets

Abstract

In den letzten Jahrzehnten werden vermehrt Klimamodelle verwendet, um extrasolare Planeten zu simulieren, welche Informationen zu Klima, Klimavariabilität und Habitabilität liefern. Zusammen mit der Entdeckung von Planeten in Doppelsternsystemen ergeben sich völlig neue Möglichkeiten für die Suche nach extraterrestrischen Leben. In dieser Arbeit wird eine modifizierte Version des Planet Simulator, ein Klimamodell der Universität Hamburg, präsentiert, mit der es möglich ist, das Klima zirkumbinärer Planeten zu simulieren. Hierfür wird ein zusätzliches Modul implementiert, welches die Bewegung des Doppelsterns mittels semi-impliziten Euler-Verfahren integriert und anschließend die Gesamteinstrahlung der beiden Sterne unter Verwendung einfacher geometrischer Überlegungen berechnet. Mit dem modifizierten Klimamodell wird ein fiktiver erdähnlicher Aqua-Planet in den zirkumbinären Systemen Kepler-35, Kepler-1647 und Kepler-47 simuliert und dessen Klima und Klimavariabilität untersucht. Des Weiteren werden neue Schätzungen für die Grenzen der habitablen Zone der drei Systeme präsentiert und ein umfassender Vergleich mit der Literatur durchgeführt. Außerdem werden Ergebnisse von Simulationen mit einem Wüstenplanet präsentiert und mit denen des Aqua-Planeten verglichen. Limitierungen des modifizierten Klimamodells werden ebenfalls diskutiert. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die neuen Grenzen der habitablen Zone der drei Systeme relativ gut mit denen übereinstimmen, die aus komplexeren Klimamodellen sowie aus analytischen Berechnungen abgeleitet wurden. Des Weiteren wird gezeigt, dass die zeitliche Variabilität des Klimas stark von der Variabilität der Gesamteinstrahlung und der großen Halbachse des Planeten abhängt. Die mittleren Klimazustände der untersuchten Planeten sind hingegen erdähnlich und in allen drei Systemen sehr ähnlich. Darüber hinaus haben die Simulationen des Wüstenplanets gezeigt, dass dessen habitable Zone wesentlich breiter ist als die eines analogen Aqua-Planeten.

In recent decades, general circulation models are extensively used to simulate extrasolar planets providing information about their climate, climate variability, and habitability. Together with the finding of planets orbiting binary stars, completely new prospects in searching habitable life are opened up. In this thesis, I present a modified version of the Planet Simulator climate model from the University of Hamburg allowing to simulate the climate of circumbinary planets. For that, an additional module is implemented which numerically integrates the motion of a binary using a semi-implicit Euler scheme. The total solar insolation at the top of the atmosphere is then calculated using simple geometrical considerations. Moreover, I present simulations of an fictitious Earth-like circumbinary aqua-planet in the Kepler-35, Kepler-1647, and Kepler-47 system, and examine its climate and climate variability. I also present new estimates for the habitable zone limits of these systems and provide an extensive comparison with results from the literature. Furthermore, simulations of a circumbinary desert planet are performed and results are compared with those for the aqua-planet. Limitations of the modified Planet Simulator are discussed as well. I find that the inferred habitable zone limits of the three systems agree reasonably well with those derived from more complex climate models as well as from analytic calculations. While the temporal variability of the climate heavily depends on the variability of the total solar insolation and planetary semi-major axis, mean climatic states of the examined planets are Earth-like and very similar among the three systems. Furthermore, the simulations have shown that the habitable zone of a desert planet is substantially wider than that from an analogous aqua-planet, which is in good agreement with results from the literature.

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
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