edu.ucar.opensky::articles:21247 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T02:33:38.272000 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74t6n0s Is Proxima Centauri b habitable? A study of atmospheric loss 2017-03-10T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74t6n0s https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa6438 Dong, Chuanfei author Lingam, M. author Ma, Y. author Cohen, O. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher We address the important question of whether the newly discovered exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b (PCb), is capable of retaining an atmosphere over long periods of time. This is done by adapting a sophisticated multispecies MHD model originally developed for Venus and Mars and computing the ion escape losses from PCb. The results suggest that the ion escape rates are about two orders of magnitude higher than the terrestrial planets of our Solar system if PCb is unmagnetized. In contrast, if the planet does have an intrinsic dipole magnetic field, the rates are lowered for certain values of the stellar wind dynamic pressure, but they are still higher than the observed values for our solar system's terrestrial planets. These results must be interpreted with due caution since most of the relevant parameters for PCb remain partly or wholly unknown. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2017 the American Astronomical Society. None eng geoscientificInformation