The Response and Observability of Exo-Earth Climates to Cometary Impacts

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• Felix Sainsbury-Martinez (Leeds)
• Tuesday 10 June 2025, 13:00-14:00
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Dolev Bashi.

Impacts by icy bodies likely played a key role in shaping the composition, and habitability, of Solar-System planets. We determine the role they may play in exoplanetary systems by coupling a cometary impact model with a 3D, Earth-analogue, climate model. I will discuss how both the impact-delivered water and thermal energy affects the global climate and composition, including: i) a modified cloud greenhouse effect and planetary albedo, ii) an enhancement in the abundance of most oxygen-bearing molecules (bar ozone), and iii) an enhancement in the escape rate of hydrogen from the exosphere. I will describe how these responses are shaped by atmospheric circulations driven by the planetary orbital configuration, including the role that impact location plays in setting the vertical transport and hence hydrogen escape rate. Finally, I will quantify the potential observability of individual massive impacts in future observations of exo-Earths.

This talk is part of the Exoplanet Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Astronomy Talks
• Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
• Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
• Exoplanet Seminars
• Institute of Astronomy Talk Lists
• LCLU Departmental Talks
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email

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