Effects of planetary mass uncertainties on the interpretation of the reflectance spectra of Earth-like exoplanets

TL;DR

Accurate planetary mass measurements are crucial for reliable atmospheric characterization of Earth-like exoplanets via reflected light spectroscopy, as mass uncertainties can lead to significant biases in identifying atmospheric composition and biosignatures.

Contribution

This study demonstrates how planetary mass uncertainties impact atmospheric retrievals and highlights the importance of precise mass measurements for future exoplanet characterization missions.

Findings

Mass knowledge within 10% enables accurate atmospheric parameter retrievals.

Uncertain or unknown mass causes biases, misidentifying dominant atmospheric gases.

Mass uncertainties affect surface gravity and scale height, influencing atmospheric composition estimates.

Abstract

Atmospheric characterization of Earth-like exoplanets through reflected light spectroscopy is a key goal for upcoming direct imaging missions. A critical challenge in this endeavor is the accurate determination of planetary mass, which may influence the measurement of atmospheric compositions and the identification of potential biosignatures. In this study, we used the Bayesian retrieval framework ExoReL$^\Re$ to investigate the impact of planetary mass uncertainties on the atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets observed in reflected light. Our results indicate that precise prior knowledge of the planetary mass can be crucial for accurate atmospheric retrievals if clouds are present in the atmosphere. When the planetary mass is known within 10\% uncertainty, our retrievals successfully identified the background atmospheric gas and accurately constrained atmospheric parameters together with clouds. However, with less constrained or unknown planetary mass, we observed significant biases, particularly in the misidentification of the dominant atmospheric gas. For instance, the dominant gas was incorrectly identified as oxygen for a modern-Earth-like planet or carbon dioxide for an Archean-Earth-like planet, potentially leading to erroneous assessments of planetary habitability and biosignatures. These biases arise because, the uncertainties in planetary mass affect the determination of surface gravity and atmospheric scale height, leading the retrieval algorithm to compensate by adjusting the atmospheric composition. Our findings emphasize the importance of achieving precise mass measurements-ideally within 10\% uncertainty-through methods such as extreme precision radial velocity or astrometry, especially for future missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory.