论文标题

大气甲烷作为系外行星生物签名的情况和背景

The Case and Context for Atmospheric Methane as an Exoplanet Biosignature

论文作者

Thompson, Maggie A., Krissansen-Totton, Joshua, Wogan, Nicholas, Telus, Myriam, Fortney, Jonathan J.

论文摘要

甲烷已被提出为系外行星生物签名。詹姆斯·韦伯(James Webb)太空望远镜的迫在眉睫的观察结果可能会在潜在的可居住系外行星上进行甲烷检测,因此在哪种行星环境中进行甲烷是一种引人注目的生物签名。甲烷在陆地行星大气中的短光化学寿命意味着大量的甲烷需要大量的补充通量。甲烷可以通过多种非生物机制(例如量表,蛇形反应和影响)产生,但我们认为,与类似地球的生物圈相比,已知的非生物过程无法轻易地产生富含CH $ _4 $的$ _4 $和CO $ _2 $的co $ _2 $ _ $ _ $ $ $ __4 $ _4的co $ _4 $和CO $ _2 $的气氛。因此,甲烷更有可能具有1)陆地散装密度,高平均分子量和缺氧气氛的行星,以及一个老宿主恒星; 2)大量的$ _4 $,意味着表面磁通超过了非生物过程所提供的; 3)大气公司$ _2 $,相对较小。

Methane has been proposed as an exoplanet biosignature. Imminent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope may enable methane detections on potentially habitable exoplanets, so it is essential to assess in what planetary contexts methane is a compelling biosignature. Methane's short photochemical lifetime in terrestrial planet atmospheres implies that abundant methane requires large replenishment fluxes. While methane can be produced by a variety of abiotic mechanisms such as outgassing, serpentinizing reactions, and impacts, we argue that, in contrast to an Earth-like biosphere, known abiotic processes cannot easily generate atmospheres rich in CH$_4$ and CO$_2$ with limited CO due to the strong redox disequilibrium between CH$_4$ and CO$_2$. Methane is thus more likely to be biogenic for planets with 1) a terrestrial bulk density, high mean-molecular-weight and anoxic atmosphere, and an old host star; 2) an abundance of CH$_4$ that implies surface fluxes exceeding what could be supplied by abiotic processes; and 3) atmospheric CO$_2$ with comparatively little CO.

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