Investigating Circumstellar Atomic Radiation-driven Dynamics

TL;DR

This study investigates how stellar radiation pressure and gravity influence atomic species in exoplanetary environments, revealing ionisation-dependent effects and identifying optimal star types for observing stellar contamination.

Contribution

It introduces a method to analyze atomic movement driven by radiation and gravity across different stellar temperatures, incorporating UV flux corrections for improved accuracy.

Findings

Radiation affects atoms differently based on ionisation state.

Stars between 6,500 and 8,000 K are best for observing contamination.

Highly ionised species are less affected by stellar radiation.

Abstract

The interactions between stars and their orbiting planets, driven by forces such as stellar radiation and gravity, play an essential role in shaping exoplanetary atmospheres and gas-rich debris discs. One way to look into the composition of these environments is to observe how they can contaminate the stellar photospheres. For that, we examine how stellar radiation pressure and gravity influence atomic species and analyse their effects across various stellar effective temperatures. Using the radiative-to-gravitational force ratio, we determined the atomic movement direction and assessed the velocity boost imparted to neutral atoms escaping from exoplanet atmospheres or debris discs. Incorporating the solar far ultraviolet/extreme ultraviolet spectrum to address flux discrepancies in the {\sc{atlas9}} model, we find that radiation affects atoms differently according to their ionisation state, with highly ionised species less affected by stellar radiation. Our results conclude that the stars most suitable for observing stellar contamination are those between 6,500 and 8,000 K, with neutral noble gases and ionised iron-peak elements as the most likely contaminants.