Identifying terrestrial planets in the habitable zones (HZs) of other stars is one of the primary goals of ongoing radial velocity and transit exoplanet surveys and proposed future space missions. Most current estimates of the boundaries of the HZ are based on 1-D, cloud-free, climate model calculations by Kasting et al. (1993). However, this model used band models which were based on older HITRAN and HITEMP line-by-line databases. The inner edge of the HZ in Kasting et al. (1993) model was determined by loss of water, and the outer edge was determined by the maximum greenhouse provided by a CO 2 atmosphere. A conservative estimate for the width of the HZ from this model in our Solar system is 0.95-1.67 AU.Here, an updated 1-D radiative-convective, cloud-free climate model is used to obtain new estimates for HZ widths around F, G, K and M stars. New H 2 O and CO 2 absorption coefficients, derived from the HITRAN 2008 and HITEMP 2010 line-by-line databases, are important improvements to the climate model. According to the new model, the water loss (inner HZ) and maximum greenhouse -2 -(outer HZ) limits for our Solar System are at 0.99 AU and 1.70 AU, respectively, suggesting that the present Earth lies near the inner edge. Additional calculations are performed for stars with effective temperatures between 2600 K and 7200 K, and the results are presented in parametric form, making them easy to apply to actual stars. The new model indicates that, near the inner edge of the HZ, there is no clear distinction between runaway greenhouse and water loss limits for stars with T ef f 5000 K which has implications for ongoing planet searches around K and M stars. To assess the potential habitability of extrasolar terrestrial planets, we propose using stellar flux incident on a planet rather than equilibrium temperature. This removes the dependence on planetary (Bond) albedo, which varies depending upon the host star's spectral type. We suggest that conservative estimates of the HZ (water loss and maximum greenhouse limits) should be used for current RV surveys and Kepler mission to obtain a lower limit on η ⊕ , so that future flagship missions like TPF-C and Darwin are not undersized. Our model does not include the radiative effects of clouds; thus, the actual HZ boundaries may extend further in both directions than the estimates just given.

Nine transiting Earth-sized planets have recently been discovered around nearby late M dwarfs, including the TRAPPIST-1 planets and two planets discovered by the MEarth survey, GJ 1132b and LHS 1140b. These planets are the smallest known planets that may have atmospheres amenable to detection with JWST. We present model thermal emission and transmission spectra for each planet, varying composition and surface pressure of the atmosphere. We base elemental compositions on those of Earth, Titan, and Venus and calculate the molecular compositions assuming chemical equilibrium, which can strongly depend on temperature. Both thermal emission and transmission spectra are sensitive to the atmospheric composition; thermal emission spectra are sensitive to surface pressure and temperature. We predict the observability of each planet's atmosphere with JWST. GJ 1132b and TRAPPIST-1b are excellent targets for emission spectroscopy with JWST/MIRI, requiring fewer than 10 eclipse observations. Emission photometry for TRAPPIST-1c requires 5-15 eclipses; LHS 1140b and TRAPPIST-1d, TRAPPIST-1e, and TRAPPIST-1f, which could possibly have surface liquid water, may be accessible with photometry. Seven of the nine planets are strong candidates for transmission spectroscopy measurements with JWST, though the number of transits required depends strongly on the planets' actual masses. Using the measured masses, fewer than 20 transits are required for a 5σ detection of spectral features for GJ 1132b and six of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Dedicated campaigns to measure the atmospheres of these nine planets will allow us, for the first time, to probe formation and evolution processes of terrestrial planetary atmospheres beyond our solar system.

The presence of valleys on ancient terrains of Mars suggest that liquid water flowed on the martian surface 3.8 billion years ago or before. The above-freezing temperatures required to explain valley formation could have been transient, in response to frequent large meteorite impacts on early Mars, or they could have been caused by long-lived greenhouse warming. Climate models that consider only the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and water vapor have been unable to recreate warm surface conditions, given the lower solar luminosity at that time. Here we use a one-dimensional climate model to demonstrate that an atmosphere containing 1.3-4 bar of CO2 and water vapor, along with 5 to 20 percent H2, could have raised the mean surface temperature of early Mars above the freezing point of water. Vigorous volcanic outgassing from a highly reduced early martian mantle is expected to provide sufficient atmospheric H2 and CO2, the latter from the photochemical oxidation of outgassed CH4 and CO, to form a CO2-H2 greenhouse. Such a dense early martian atmosphere is consistent with independent estimates of surface pressure based on cratering data.Comment: 48 pages, 12 figures, and 4 tables. The official Nature Geoscience version is found here: http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v7/n1/full/ngeo2000.htm