Space environment and Poynting fluxes around the Trappist-1 exoplanets and effects of coronal mass ejections on their habitability

Trappist-1 is an extraordinary planetary system with 7 confirmed terrestrial exoplanets, some of which may lie in the habitable zone around the central M dwarf star. M dwarfs are magnetically very active and probably emit a stellar wind that interacts with the planets. Stellar winds and their interaction with planetary atmospheres and magnetospheres, if the planets are magnetized, affect the energy budget of their surroundings and ultimately the habitability of those planets. During coronal mass ejections (CMEs) intersecting the planets the exposure to increased stellar wind pressure, density and velocity might result in significant heating of the planets surroundings and interior (Grayver et al. 2022)^[1]. We aim to better understand the space environment around the Trappist-1 planets and their interaction with the surrounding stellar wind. We perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the interaction of the planets with the stellar wind. We also study the effect of CMEs on the energy budget of planetary atmospheres and magnetospheres, their heating, and possible effects on exoplanet habitability.

References

• A. Grayver et al., The Astrophysical Journal Letters 941, L7 (2022)