View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository A&A 570, A99 (2014) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201424323 & c ESO 2014 Astrophysics The effects of stellar winds on the magnetospheres and potential habitability of exoplanets V. S ee 1, M. Jardine1,A.A.Vidotto1,2,P.Petit3,4, S. C. Marsden5,S.V.Jeffers6, and J. D. do Nascimento Jr.7,8 1 SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, KY16 9SS, St Andrews, UK e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, Chemin des Maillettes 51, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland 3 Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, 31400 Toulouse, France 4 CNRS, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, 14 Avenue Édouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France 5 Computational Engineering and Science Research Centre, University of Southern Queensland, 4350 Toowoomba, Australia 6 Universität Göttingen, Institut für Astrophysik, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany 7 Departmento de Física Teórica e Experimental, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, CEP:59072-970 Natal, RN, Brazil 8 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA Received 2 June 2014 / Accepted 6 August 2014 ABSTRACT Context. The principle definition of habitability for exoplanets is whether they can sustain liquid water on their surfaces, i.e. that they orbit within the habitable zone. However, the planet’s magnetosphere should also be considered, since without it, an exoplanet’s atmosphere may be eroded away by stellar winds.