An Exoplanetary View on Atmospheric Evaporation

Abstract:

So far, atmospheric evaporation has been detected in exoplanets with direct and indirect methods. From these observations, it was found that close-in exoplanets show very high escape rates that are on the order of 1e9 -- 1e10 g/s and even higher. There is a number of reasons of why these rates are so high, including the high levels of activity from the host star and the very extreme environment within which close-in exoplanets are embedded. In this talk, I will present an outside-the-solar-system perspective on planetary atmospheric evaporation and will discuss current debate which questions the effectiveness of planetary magnetic fields in reducing evaporation in exoplanets.