dc.contributor.author | Loeb, Abraham | |
dc.contributor.author | Maoz, Dan | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-09-26T15:02:16Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2013 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Loeb, Abraham, and Dan Maoz. 2013. “Detecting Biomarkers in Habitable-Zone Earths Transiting White Dwarfs.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 432 (1): L11–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slt026. | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0035-8711 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1365-2966 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41412247 | * |
dc.description.abstract | The characterization of the atmospheres of habitable-zone Earth-mass exoplanets that transit across main-sequence stars, let alone the detection of biomarkers in their atmospheres, will be challenging even with future facilities. It has been noted that white dwarfs (WDs) have long-lived habitable zones and that a large fraction ofWDs may host planets. We point out that during a transit of an Earth-mass planet across a WD, the planet's atmospheric transmission spectrum obtains a much higher contrast over the stellar background compared to a mainsequence host, because of the small surface area of the WD. The most prominent bio-marker in the present-day terrestrial atmosphere, molecular oxygen, is readily detectable in a WD transit via its A-band absorption at similar to 0.76 mu m. A potentially life-sustaining Earth-like planet transiting a WD can be found by assembling a suitable sample of similar to 500 WDs and then surveying them for transits using small telescopes. If and when a transiting case is found, the O-2 absorption in the planetary atmospheric transmission spectrum would be detectable with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in about 5 h of total exposure time, integrated over 160 two-minute transits. Characterization of the planet atmosphere using other tracers such as water vapour and CO2 will be considerably easier. We demonstrate this future discovery space by simulating a possible transmission spectrum that would be detectable with JWST. | |
dc.language.iso | en_US | |
dc.publisher | Oxford University Press | |
dash.license | LAA | |
dc.title | Detecting biomarkers in habitable-zone earths transiting white dwarfs | |
dc.type | Journal Article | |
dc.description.version | Version of Record | |
dc.relation.journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | |
dash.depositing.author | Loeb, Abraham::e022a3952362350ac8a0138f128a8be7::600 | |
dc.date.available | 2019-09-26T15:02:16Z | |
dash.workflow.comments | 1Science Serial ID 66765 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1093/mnrasl/slt026 | |
dash.source.volume | 432;1 | |
dash.source.page | L11-L15 | |