Flux and Polarization Signals of the Trappist-1 System
Numerical Simulations
F. Abiad (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
D.M. Stam – Mentor (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)
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Abstract
The Trappist-1 system consists of an M-dwarf star and seven known planets tightly orbiting it, located 39 light years away from Earth. The system is interesting due to how closely the planets are orbiting their parent star, in addition to the likelihood of one of its planets containing surface water, a crucial component for life. The system has been the subject of many studies concerning atmospheric predictions and polarimetric modeling. However, these did not explore phenomena such as the atmospheric composition and its effect on the polarization signals, having a patchy cloud cover, and the eclipse of the planets behind their parent star. In this work, we present the phase curves of the polarized flux and degree of polarization of the individual Trappist-1 exoplanets, as well as the entire system including the star.