Detecting volcanically produced tori along orbits of exoplanets using UV spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper proposes using Hubble Space Telescope UV spectroscopy to detect plasma tori formed by volcanic activity on exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs, which could reveal planetary volcanic processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel observational method to identify volcanic activity on exoplanets via detection of plasma tori in UV spectra.

Findings

Potential detectability of volcanic plasma tori with HST in UV

Tori formation linked to planetary volcanic activity and star interactions

Method applicable to TESS exoplanet targets around M dwarfs

Abstract

We suggest to use the Hubble Space Telescople (HST) follow-up observations of the TESS targets for detecting possible plasma tori along the orbits of exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs. The source of the torus could be planetary volcanic activity due to tidal or electromagnetic induction heating. Fast losses to space for planets orbiting these active stars can lead to the lost material forming a torus along the planetary orbit, similar to the Io plasma torus. We show that such torus would be potentially detectable by the HST in the UV.