Lighting up dark exomoons: observational signatures of tidally induced volcanism in other worlds

Abstract

The work done during this PhD research, aims to investigate the effect of tidal heating

in the observability of extra-solar satellites around exoplanets. More particularly, this

thesis focuses on the effects of tidal heating on the detectability of exomoons around directly

imaged and radial velocity exoplanets, IPMOs or BDs. The main goal is to identify the physical and/or orbital parameters that would make THEMs detectable with different methods and existing or future instruments. In parallel, we also investigate how well the physical properties of potentially detected exomoons might be characterized according to observational and theoretical constraints. The second part of this thesis uses interior models used in the characterization of Solar System moons, to assess potential interior structures of the likely icy planets of the system Trappist-1. We model the tidal heat produced in their interior and identify the thickness and depth of any potential subsurface oceans. We also conclude on the detectability of cryovolcanism in the system.