Atmosphere Retention Distance for CO2- and N2-dominated Atmospheres: Overlap with the Habitable Zone Across Stellar Rotation Histories

To the point

Gwenaël Van Looveren and collaborators show that Earth-sized rocky planets can retain a secondary CO2- or N2-dominated atmosphere only if they lie within a star-dependent atmosphere-retention distance that overlaps the Habitable Zone, and this overlap is shaped by the star’s rotation history, with slowly rotating or very low-mass stars hindering retention, while all Earth-like JWST targets lie outside this zone, implying atmospheric loss or absence.