Probing the terrestrial planet TRAPPIST-1c for the presence of an atmosphere

Rathcke, Alexander, Bello-Arufe, Aaron, Buchhave, Lars A., Burgasser, Adam J., Diamond-Lowe, Hannah, Espinoza, Nestor, Fisher, Chloe, Gibson, Neale, Guzman Mesa, Andrea, Heng, Kevin, Hoeijmakers, Jens, Hooton, Matthew, Kitzmann, Daniel, Kozakis, Thea, Lopez-Morales, Mercedes, Mendonca, Joao Manuel and Morris, Brett M. (2021) Probing the terrestrial planet TRAPPIST-1c for the presence of an atmosphere.

Abstract

Since the discovery of the first exoplanets, a prime aspiration has been characterization of planets akin to our own Earth. JWST will, for the first time, enable observations of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets, allowing us to understand the nature and diversity and ultimately the habitability of Earth-like worlds. Facilitated by the broad spectral coverage of the NIRSpec Prism, we propose to characterize the atmosphere of the terrestrial-sized exoplanet TRAPPIST-1c, which is one of the most favorable such targets due to its significant transit depth and proximity to Earth. The seven terrestrial planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system receive between 0.1 to 4 times the irradiation of Earth and thus form a unique natural laboratory for testing and understanding planetary environments, their composition and their habitability. Planets b, d, e, and f are part of GTO programs and observations of planet c will thus allow comparative atmospheric characterization of all the inner planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Our program will enable the detection of the most probable types of clear atmospheres for TRAPPIST-1c, and its atmospheric constituents. Distinguishing between a cloudy/hazy atmosphere and no atmosphere is extremely challenging for any terrestrial planet, including planet c, and will require occupying JWST for close to 100 hours. We submit that the most fruitful use of JWST will be to reveal the clear-atmosphere Earth-like planets early, using short visits like this proposal, enabling ground-breaking exhaustive characterization of the most favorable Earth-like planets with clear atmospheres before the end of JWST's lifetime.

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Contributors

Author: Joao Manuel Mendonca

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