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| Paper: |
Habitable Exomoons |
| Monograph: |
11, HWO25 Proceedings Part II: Mission Framework, Technology, and Broader Contributions |
| Page: |
155 |
| Authors: |
Apurva V. Oza and Yuk L. Yung |
| DOI: |
10.26624/IZKN5143 |
| Abstract: |
The nearest habitable world with extant life, beyond Earth, may be Jupiter’s tidally-heated ocean world moon Europa, after which Saturn’s Enceladus and Titan bear powerful astrobiological potential with detected organic molecules thought to vent from their seafloors. Beyond our solar system, free floating and transiting gas giant planets have the ability to tidally-sustain habitable exomoons over ∼Gyr timescales in tidal habitable zones beyond the canonical habitable zone. Habitable exomoons in our solar system host voluminous liquid water reservoirs rivaling and often exceeding those of terrestrial habitable zone planets. In this light, we describe a science case to indirectly detect habitable exomoons, with ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) multiwavelength spectroscopy. By monitoring transiting gas giant exoplanets beyond the ice line, for orbiting sulfur and oxygen in the UV, neutral sodium (Na I) or potassium (K I) in the VIS, and SOz_2z, COz_2z, and Hz_2zO in the IR. Similar to Europa and Enceladus, alkalis are expected as a dissociation product of NaCl or KCl from a subsurface ocean. Here we present radiative transfer simulations for exomoon scenarios in the context of Habitable World Observatory. |
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