How can stellar winds affect atmospheric escape in close-in exoplanets?
Aline A. Vidotto
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland


As the wind outflows from a star, it permeates the interplanetary medium, interacting with any planet it encounters. In this talk I will present some of our recent works on how winds of low-mass stars can affect surrounding exoplanets. In particular, I will concentrate on close-in exoplanets, whose atmospheres are highly irradiated. Stellar high-energy radiation (X-ray and extreme ultraviolet, XUV) drives atmospheric escape in close-in exoplanets. While XUV radiation powers escape in close-in exoplanets, the winds of the host stars, due to their strong pressures, can confine planetary atmospheres, reducing or even preventing their escape. In some close-in exoplanets, thus, XUV radiation and stellar winds are competing processes in the Physics of atmospheric escape. I will discuss the effects of stellar winds on the atmospheres of exoplanets and how they affect transit signatures in hydrogen lines and, potentially, in helium lines as well.

Here you can play back the recording of the presentation