Exploring the climate of Proxima B with the Met Office Unified Model (Corrigendum)

We present results of simulations of the climate of the newly discovered planet Proxima Centauri B, performed using the Met Office Unified Model (UM). We examine the responses of both an “Earth-like” atmosphere and simplified nitrogen and trace carbon dioxide atmosphere to the radiation likely received by Proxima Centauri B. Additionally, we explore the effects of orbital eccentricity on the planetary conditions using a range of eccentricities guided by the observational constraints. Overall, our results are in agreement with previous studies in suggesting Proxima Centauri B may well have surface temperatures conducive to the presence of liquid water. Moreover, we have expanded the parameter regime over which the planet may support liquid water to higher values of eccentricity (≳0.1) and lower incident fluxes (881.7 W m -2 ) than previous work. This increased parameter space arises because of the low sensitivity of the planet to changes in stellar flux, a consequence of the stellar spectrum and orbital configuration. However, we also find interesting differences from previous simulations, such as cooler mean surface temperatures for the tidally-locked case. Finally, we have produced high-resolution planetary emission and reflectance spectra, and highlight signatures of gases vital to the evolution of complex life on Earth (oxygen, ozone and carbon dioxide).

[1]  N. Wood,et al.  The unified model, a fully-compressible, non-hydrostatic, deep atmosphere global circulation model, applied to hot Jupiters - ENDGame for a HD 209458b test case , 2014 .

[2]  Syukuro Manabe,et al.  Thermal Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Given Distribution of Relative Humidity , 1967 .

[3]  A. Holtslag,et al.  Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layers and Diurnal Cycles: Challenges for Weather and Climate Models , 2013 .

[4]  Howard Isaacson,et al.  An Earth-Sized Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Cool Star , 2014, Science.

[5]  P. J. Simmons,et al.  Learning to Live with NGOs , 1998 .

[6]  Robert A. Brown.  On the Eccentricity of Proxima b , 2017, 1701.04063.

[7]  P. Rowntree,et al.  A Mass Flux Convection Scheme with Representation of Cloud Ensemble Characteristics and Stability-Dependent Closure , 1990 .

[8]  J. Harder,et al.  Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets , 2014 .

[9]  Ignasi Ribas,et al.  The habitability of Proxima Centauri b II. Possible climates and Observability , 2016, 1608.06827.

[10]  Accuracy tests of radiation schemes used in hot Jupiter global circulation models , 2014, 1402.0814.

[11]  N. Wood,et al.  Using the UM dynamical cores to reproduce idealised 3-D flows , 2013, 1310.6041.

[12]  R. Paul Butler,et al.  THE LICK–CARNEGIE EXOPLANET SURVEY: A 3.1 M⊕ PLANET IN THE HABITABLE ZONE OF THE NEARBY M3V STAR GLIESE 581 , 2010, 1009.5733.

[13]  Andrew J. Watson,et al.  Revolutions that Made the Earth , 2011 .

[14]  J. Kasting,et al.  Runaway and moist greenhouse atmospheres and the evolution of Earth and Venus. , 1988, Icarus.

[15]  G. Laughlin,et al.  A physically-motivated photometric calibration of M dwarf metallicity , 2010, 1006.2850.

[16]  L. F. Sarmiento,et al.  A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri , 2016, Nature.

[17]  D. Frail,et al.  A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12 , 1992, Nature.

[18]  Dorian S. Abbot,et al.  STABILIZING CLOUD FEEDBACK DRAMATICALLY EXPANDS THE HABITABLE ZONE OF TIDALLY LOCKED PLANETS , 2013, 1307.0515.

[19]  A. Robin,et al.  The effective temperature scale of M dwarfs , 2013, 1304.4072.

[20]  Yongyun Hu,et al.  Role of ocean heat transport in climates of tidally locked exoplanets around M dwarf stars , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[21]  D. Abbot,et al.  A LOW-ORDER MODEL OF WATER VAPOR, CLOUDS, AND THERMAL EMISSION FOR TIDALLY LOCKED TERRESTRIAL PLANETS , 2014, 1403.0905.

[22]  A. Dobrovolskis.  Insolation patterns on eccentric exoplanets , 2015 .

[23]  É. Bolmont,et al.  Water loss from terrestrial planets orbiting ultracool dwarfs: implications for the planets of TRAPPIST-1 , 2016, 1605.00616.

[24]  M. Mayor,et al.  A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star , 1995, Nature.

[25]  E. Guinan,et al.  The habitability of Proxima Centauri b. I. Irradiation, rotation and volatile inventory from formation to the present , 2016, 1608.06813.

[26]  Cyril J. Morcrette,et al.  PC2: A prognostic cloud fraction and condensation scheme. I: Scheme description , 2008 .

[27]  Raymond T. Pierrehumbert,et al.  Thermostats, Radiator Fins, and the Local Runaway Greenhouse , 1995 .

[28]  David Charbonneau,et al.  Design Considerations for a Ground-Based Transit Search for Habitable Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs , 2007, 0709.2879.

[29]  Peter Goldreich,et al.  Spin-orbit coupling in the solar system , 1966 .

[30]  S. McFarlane,et al.  Analysis of tropical radiative heating profiles: A comparison of models and observations , 2007 .

[31]  D. Homeier,et al.  The UK Met Office global circulation model with a sophisticated radiation scheme applied to the hot Jupiter HD 209458b , 2016, 1608.08593.

[32]  Isaac M. Held,et al.  A Gray-Radiation Aquaplanet Moist GCM. Part I: Static Stability and Eddy Scale , 2006 .

[33]  L. Polvani,et al.  EQUATORIAL SUPERROTATION ON TIDALLY LOCKED EXOPLANETS , 2011, 1103.3101.

[34]  P. Magain,et al.  Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star , 2016, Nature.

[35]  Anne-Sophie Libert,et al.  Habitability of planets on eccentric orbits: Limits of the mean flux approximation , 2015, 1604.06091.

[36]  C. Goldblatt.  Tutorial models of the climate and habitability of Proxima Centauri b: a thin atmosphere is sufficient to distribute heat given low stellar flux , 2016, 1608.07263.