The most common habitable planets-atmospheric characterization of the subgroup of fast rotators

Abstract

The current search for habitable planets has focused on Earth-like conditions of mass, volatile content and orbit. However, rocky planets following eccentric orbits, and drier than the Earth, may be a more common phenomenon in the Universe. For the subgroup of fast rotators, it is suggested that their atmospheric thermal capacitance, subject to the radiative forcing of their parent stars, may provide researchers in the near future with a simple method for the determination of a robust lower limit of atmospheric thickness. This technique, together with the spectroscopic analysis of resolved planets from their stars, both allowed by planned spaceand ground-based observatories with thermal infrared capabilities, would enable us with a better understanding of the habitability of this class of planets. The technique works better for shorter orbital periods, but since the tidal-lock radius ofMdwarfs encompasses their Habitable Zone (HZ), the optimum targets would be planets around K dwarf stars. The atmospheric thermal capacitance could also expand the range of HZs for shorter orbits, particularly for planets around M dwarf stars, since the higher frequency of the periodic radiative forcing dampens the surface temperature variation considerably. © 2013 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.