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<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">apjl</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title xml:lang="en">The Astrophysical Journal Letters</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="AAS" xml:lang="en">APJL</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher" xml:lang="en">Astrophys. J. Lett.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="ppub">2041-8205</issn>
<issn pub-type="epub">2041-8213</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>The American Astronomical Society</publisher-name>
</publisher>
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<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">apjlab7229</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3847/2041-8213/ab7229</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="manuscript">ab7229</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="other">AAS20413</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>The Interior and Atmosphere of the Habitable-zone Exoplanet K2-18b</article-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="ascii">The Interior and Atmosphere of the Habitable-zone Exoplanet K2-18b</alt-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="toc-author">Nikku Madhusudhan, Matthew C. Nixon, Luis Welbanks, Anjali A. A. Piette, and Richard A. Booth</alt-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group content-type="all">
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
<name name-style="western">
<surname>Madhusudhan</surname>
<given-names>Nikku</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229af1"/>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229em1"/>
<ext-link ext-link-type="orcid" xlink:type="simple">0000-0002-4869-000X</ext-link>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
<name name-style="western">
<surname>Nixon</surname>
<given-names>Matthew C.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229af1"/>
<ext-link ext-link-type="orcid" xlink:type="simple">0000-0001-8236-5553</ext-link>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
<name name-style="western">
<surname>Welbanks</surname>
<given-names>Luis</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229af1"/>
<ext-link ext-link-type="orcid" xlink:type="simple">0000-0003-0156-4564</ext-link>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
<name name-style="western">
<surname>Piette</surname>
<given-names>Anjali A. A.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229af1"/>
<ext-link ext-link-type="orcid" xlink:type="simple">0000-0002-4487-5533</ext-link>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
<name name-style="western">
<surname>Booth</surname>
<given-names>Richard A.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="apjlab7229af1"/>
<ext-link ext-link-type="orcid" xlink:type="simple">0000-0002-0364-937X</ext-link>
</contrib>
<aff id="apjlab7229af1">Institute of Astronomy, <institution xlink:type="simple">University of Cambridge</institution>, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, <country>UK</country>; <ext-link ext-link-type="email" id="apjlab7229em1" xlink:type="simple">nmadhu@ast.cam.ac.uk</ext-link>
</aff>
<author-comment content-type="short-author-list">
<p>Madhusudhan et al.</p>
</author-comment>
</contrib-group>
<pub-date pub-type="ppub">
<day>1</day>
<month>3</month>
<year>2020</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>27</day>
<month>02</month>
<year>2020</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="open-access">
<day>27</day>
<month>02</month>
<year>2020</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>891</volume>
<issue>1</issue>
<elocation-id content-type="artnum">L7</elocation-id>
<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>27</day>
<month>9</month>
<year>2019</year>
</date>
<date date-type="rev-recd">
<day>28</day>
<month>1</month>
<year>2020</year>
</date>
<date date-type="accepted">
<day>31</day>
<month>1</month>
<year>2020</year>
</date>
<date date-type="oa-requested">
<day>31</day>
<month>01</month>
<year>2020</year>
</date>
</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>© 2020. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2020</copyright-year>
<license license-type="cc-by" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
<license-p>
<graphic content-type="print" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="apjlab7229license.eps" xlink:type="simple"/>
<graphic content-type="online" orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="apjlab7229license.gif" xlink:type="simple"/>Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence</ext-link>. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.</license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="http://stacks.iop.org/APJL/891/L7" xlink:type="simple"/>
<abstract>
<title>Abstract</title>
<p>Exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs present a valuable opportunity for their detection and atmospheric characterization. This is evident from recent inferences of H<sub>2</sub>O in such atmospheres, including that of the habitable-zone exoplanet K2-18b. With a bulk density between Earth and Neptune, K2-18b may be expected to possess a H/He envelope. However, the extent of such an envelope and the thermodynamic conditions of the interior remain unexplored. In the present work, we investigate the atmospheric and interior properties of K2-18b based on its bulk properties and its atmospheric transmission spectrum. We constrain the atmosphere to be H<sub>2</sub>-rich with a H<sub>2</sub>O volume mixing ratio of 0.02%–14.8%, consistent with previous studies, and find a depletion of CH<sub>4</sub> and NH<sub>3</sub>, indicating chemical disequilibrium. We do not conclusively detect clouds/hazes in the observable atmosphere. We use the bulk parameters and retrieved atmospheric properties to constrain the internal structure and thermodynamic conditions in the planet. The constraints on the interior allow multiple scenarios between rocky worlds with massive H/He envelopes and water worlds with thin envelopes. We constrain the mass fraction of the H/He envelope to be ≲6%; spanning ≲10<sup>−5</sup> for a predominantly water world to ∼6% for a pure iron interior. The thermodynamic conditions at the surface of the H<sub>2</sub>O layer range from the supercritical to liquid phases, with a range of solutions allowing for habitable conditions on K2-18b. Our results demonstrate that the potential for habitable conditions is not necessarily restricted to Earth-like rocky exoplanets.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-source xlink:type="simple">Gates Cambridge Trust</funding-source>
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<funding-source xlink:type="simple">Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation</funding-source>
<award-id>OPP1144</award-id>
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