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EDP Sciences, Astronomy & Astrophysics, (648), p. L7, 2021

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202140423

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Evidence of energy-, recombination-, and photon-limited escape regimes in giant planet H/He atmospheres

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Hydrodynamic escape is the most efficient atmospheric mechanism of planetary mass loss and has a large impact on planetary evolution. Three hydrodynamic escape regimes have been identified theoretically: energy-limited, recombination-limited, and photon-limited. However, no evidence of these regimes had been reported until now. Here, we report evidence of these three regimes via an analysis of a helium I triplet at 10 830 Å and Lyα absorption involving a 1D hydrodynamic model that allows us to estimate hydrogen recombination and advection rates. In particular, we show that HD 209458 b is in the energy-limited regime, HD 189733 b is in the recombination-limited regime, and GJ 3470 b is in the photon-limited regime. These exoplanets can be considered as benchmark cases for their respective regimes.