The Trappist-1 system is a remarkable star system with 7 Earth-sized terrestrial exoplanets. The central M-dwarf star is a flaring star which possibly has a large impact on the space weather the planets are exposed to. The effect of stellar wind variations and flare-associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the space environment of exoplanets, which are likely to be exposed to a much stronger stellar wind due to their proximity to the star, is an important aspect that can strongly influence atmospheres, the energy budget in the planetary interiors, their magnetospheres, if any, and ultimately the habitability of such planets. We perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations in which we study the time-dependent interaction of interplanetary CMEs with the space environment of the Trappist-1b and e exoplanets. We study the interaction of magnetized and non-magnetized planets with density-pulse CMEs and magnetically dominated fluxrope CMEs, the planetary energy budget during such events, and the effects on internal heating of those planets. We also examine the effects of atmospheres on the interaction and characterize magnetic variability at the surface of the planets which ultimately governs CME energy dissipation within the planetary bodies. Ultimately, understanding the importance of planetary magnetic fields in shielding the planets magnetically from their space environments might have strong implications on our understanding of habitability on planets surrounding magnetically active M-dwarf stars.
Local contact & organization: Antoine STRUGAREK
DAp