What is it about?
Using a fully coupled, three-dimensional atmospheric chemistry-radiation-dynamics model, we demonstrate that the atmospheric composition of terrestrial exoplanets can be self-oscillatory under nonvarying external forcings.
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Why is it important?
This finding could inspire future research on nonlinear behaviors in diverse photochemical systems on exoplanets. The simulated temporal variability of the ozone layer is large enough to be detected by future space telescopes. As the photochemical self-oscillations in our simulations can only exist with a strong surface NOx source, the resulting large, periodic oscillations of ozone abundance, once observed, could suggest the presence of biological nitrogen fixation, hence they are proposed as a unique class of exoplanet biosignature.
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This page is a summary of: Coupled atmospheric chemistry, radiation, and dynamics of an exoplanet generate self-sustained oscillations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309312120.
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