Early Earth, Mars and Venus as Exoplanets (EASE)

Introduction

The era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has opened a new chapter in exoplanetary research. We cannot understand exoplanets without looking back at the cradle of life as we know it - the Earth.

Research Questions

• Why did the Earth become a habitable planet?
• Why did Mars and Venus evolve differently?
• What would JWST see if it looked at the solar system planets as they were billions of years ago?

My team will investigate the long-term evolution of the atmospheres and spectral fingerprints of Earth, Venus, and Mars.

Proposed Study

I propose a unique joint evolutionary study of:

1. Volcanism
2. Atmospheric escape to space
3. Spectroscopy

My team will use numerical models at the cutting edge of modern development and connect their outputs to the growing list of JWST spectra of exoplanets.

Modeling Approach

The team will model:

• Interior processes
• The evolution of lower and upper atmospheres
• The evolving atmospheric spectra of Earth, Venus, and Mars and their possible exoplanetary analogues

Our predictions of spectral features of these three planets at different evolutionary stages will be critical for the astrophysics community to identify potential habitable worlds outside the solar system and forecast their future evolution. My deep expertise in stellar and planetary evolution makes me uniquely well-placed to lead this project.

Expected Outcomes

This project will not only significantly expand our current knowledge of the evolution of the Earth, Venus, and Mars, but will also place much better constraints on the probability for a terrestrial planet to evolve into a habitable world.

Characterization of Analogues

The team will in particular characterize possible failed analogues of Earth and investigate if they could have become habitable planets under slightly different conditions.

Conclusion

By studying for the first time this unique combination of factors that are crucial for the evolution of Earth-like worlds, my project will break new ground in the study of exoplanetary habitability.