planetary science Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of ...

, the Komabayashi–Ingersoll limit represents the maximum solar flux a planet can handle without a

runaway greenhouse effect A runaway greenhouse effect will occur when a planet's atmosphere contains greenhouse gas in an amount sufficient to block thermal radiation from leaving the planet, preventing the planet from cooling and from having liquid water on its surface. ...

setting in.Raymond T. Pierrehumbert. Principles of Planetary Climate. Cambridge University Press. 2010 For planets with temperature-dependent sources of

greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

such as liquid water and optically thin atmospheres the

outgoing longwave radiation In climate science, longwave radiation (LWR) is electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic thermal radiation emitted by Earth's surface, atmosphere, and clouds. It is also referred to as terrestrial radiation. This radiation is in the infrared p ...

curve (which indicates how fast energy can be radiated away by the planet) flattens at high temperatures, reaching a horizontal

asymptote In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the ''x'' or ''y'' coordinates tends to infinity. In projective geometry and related contexts, ...

– the Komabayashi–Ingersoll limit itself. Since the equilibrium temperature is the intersection of this curve and a horizontal line representing solar flux, for fluxes above this point the planet heats up indefinitely. Kasting estimated the limit for Earth to be 320 watts per square meter. The limit is relevant for estimating the inner edge of the

circumstellar habitable zone In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric press ...

. However, the limit also depends on the surface gravity of the planet, making heavy worlds somewhat more resistant to the runaway effect.

References

Climatology Climate change feedbacks Planetary science {{climatology-stub