Understanding the set of conditions that allow rocky planets to have liquid water on their surface, in the form of lakes, seas, or oceans, is a major scientific step in determining the fraction of planets potentially suitable for the emergence and development of life as we know it on Earth. This effort is also necessary to define and refine what is known as the habitable zone (HZ) in order to guide the search for exoplanets likely to harbor remotely detectable life forms. To date, most numerical climate studies on this topic have focused on the conditions necessary to maintain oceans, but not to form them in the first place. Here we use the three-dimensional Generic Planetary Climate Model, historically known as the LMD generic global climate model, to simulate water-dominated planetary atmospheres around different types of main sequence stars. The simulations are designed to reproduce the conditions of early ocean formation on rocky planets due to the condensation of the primordial water reservoir at the end of the magma ocean phase. We show that the incoming stellar radiation (ISR) required to form oceans by condensation is always drastically lower than that required to vaporize oceans. We introduce a water condensation limit, which lies at significantly lower ISR than the inner edge of the HZ calculated with three-dimensional numerical climate simulations. This difference is due to a behavior change of water clouds, from low-altitude dayside convective clouds to high-altitude nightside stratospheric clouds. Finally, we calculated the transit spectra, emission spectra, and thermal phase curves of TRAPPIST-1b, c, and d with H2O-rich atmospheres, and compared them to CO2 atmospheres and bare rock simulations. We show using these observables that JWST has the capability to probe steam atmospheres on low-mass planets, and could possibly test the existence of nightside water clouds.","AbstractOtherLang":null,"BibLvlCode":"AS","StandardTitle":"Water condensation zones around main sequence stars","OrigTitleLangCode":"en","OrigTitleLangCodeExtended":"eng","OrigTitleLangID":15,"DateLastModified":{"date":"2026-06-08 01:31:35.410852","timezone_type":1,"timezone":"+02:00"},"UserAccessRight":null,"UserAccID":null,"AuthorKeywords":"planets and satellites: atmospheres; planets and satellites: terrestrial planets","OtherDescriptors":null,"Notes":null,"AnaPub":2023,"MonPub":null,"DateUpdate":"2024-02-26","DateCreate":"2024-02-16","SecASFANote":null,"ConfID":null,"PeerRev":1,"VlizCoreFlag":1,"WoScode":"WOS:001110288900004","VABBcode":null,"OpenAcc":1,"DOI":"10.1051/0004-6361/202347539"},"refs":null,"anarec":{"AnaID":382744,"PubliDate":2023,"Pagination":"A126","XtraPublOfAnaID":null,"ISBN":null,"Volume":"679","Issue":null,"BRefMon":null,"BRefMonRR":null,"BRefXtra":null,"BRefXtraRR":null,"SerBRefID":233536,"SerRR":"Astronomy & Astrophysics (Les Ulis). EDP Sciences: Les Ulis. ISSN 0004-6361; e-ISSN 1432-0746","StandardTitleSer":"Astronomy & Astrophysics (Les Ulis)","ISSN":"0004-6361","AbbrevSer":"Astron. Astrophys.","StandardTitleMon":null,"StartPage":36,"Pages":null,"ToPubliDate":null,"BRefBibLvlCode":"S","SerNotes":null},"monrec":null,"serrec":null,"relations":null,"relationsRev":null,"addrec":null,"othpubs":null,"ownerships":null,"authors":[{"AutName":"Turbet","Firstname":"Martin","Initials":"M.","Affiliation":"Sorbonne Univ, Ecole Polytech, CNRS,Univ PSL,Inst Polytech Paris, Lab Meteorol Dynam IPSL,Ecole Normale Super, F-75005 Paris, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553845,"OrderNr":1,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Fauchez","Firstname":"Thomas","Initials":"T.J.","Affiliation":"NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553848,"OrderNr":2,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Leconte","Firstname":"Jeremy","Initials":"J.","Affiliation":"Univ Bordeaux, Lab Astrophys Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N Allee Geoffroy St Hilaire, F-33615 Pessac, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553850,"OrderNr":3,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Bolmont","Firstname":"Emeline","Initials":"E.","Affiliation":"Univ Geneva, Dept Astron, Chemin Pegasi 51, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553851,"OrderNr":4,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Chaverot","Firstname":"Guillaume","Initials":"G.","Affiliation":"Univ Geneva, Dept Astron, Chemin Pegasi 51, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553853,"OrderNr":5,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Forget","Firstname":"Francois","Initials":"F.","Affiliation":"Sorbonne Univ, Ecole Polytech, CNRS,Univ PSL,Inst Polytech Paris, Lab Meteorol Dynam IPSL,Ecole Normale Super, F-75005 Paris, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553855,"OrderNr":6,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Millour","Firstname":"Ehouarn","Initials":"E.","Affiliation":"Sorbonne Univ, Ecole Polytech, CNRS,Univ PSL,Inst Polytech Paris, Lab Meteorol Dynam IPSL,Ecole Normale Super, F-75005 Paris, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553856,"OrderNr":7,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Selsis","Firstname":"Franck","Initials":"F.","Affiliation":"Univ Bordeaux, Lab Astrophys Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N Allee Geoffroy St Hilaire, F-33615 Pessac, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553857,"OrderNr":8,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Charnay","Firstname":"Benjamin","Initials":"B.","Affiliation":"Univ Paris Cite, Univ PSL, Sorbonne Univ, LESIA,CNRS,Observ Paris, 5 Pl Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553858,"OrderNr":9,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Ducrot","Firstname":"Elsa","Initials":"E.","Affiliation":"Univ Paris Saclay, Univ Paris Cite, CEA, CNRS,AIM, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553859,"OrderNr":10,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Gillon","Firstname":"Michael","Initials":"M.","Affiliation":"Astrobiology Research Unit, University of Liège","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553860,"OrderNr":11,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":"Université de Liège; Faculté des Sciences; Département de Géologie; Premières Traces et Evolution de la Vie - Astrobiologie","ORCID":null,"PersID":36018,"InsID":3841},{"AutName":"Maurel","Firstname":"Alice","Initials":"A.","Affiliation":"Sorbonne Univ, Ecole Polytech, CNRS,Univ PSL,Inst Polytech Paris, Lab Meteorol Dynam IPSL,Ecole Normale Super, F-75005 Paris, France.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553861,"OrderNr":12,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Villanueva","Firstname":"Geronimo","Initials":"G.L.","Affiliation":"NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":380485,"AutID":553864,"OrderNr":13,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null}],"mapdetails":null,"datasets":null,"monographs":null,"monparts":null,"serparts":null,"BEntOpen":null,"BEntPrivate":null,"availability":[{"BInstID":396658,"LibID":36,"BRefID":382744,"EmbargoDate":null,"FullEmbargoDate":null,"PhysMedID":16,"hasOCRd":1,"ShelfLocCode":"396658","RFID":null,"PaidValue":null,"Medium":"Server","Description":"VLIZ Open Access","Acronym":"VLIZ","Library":"Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee","DutchTerm":"Open access","URL":null,"ClassifID":53,"Classification":"Open access","ReqLink":null,"ClassifTypID":1,"URLLocation":"https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/","SubDir":null,"InternalReq":0,"LoggedInReq":0,"Disclaimer":null,"DutchDisclaimer":null,"FileFormat":".pdf","FileDescr":"pdf","InsPub":1,"InsID":36,"FileFormID":6,"LendableFlag":1,"PublicFlag":1,"orderLib":"A","Notes":null,"AccConID":null,"AccessConstraint":null,"LicURL":null}],"litstyles":null,"thespers":null,"arch2discl":null,"SERpubls":[{"PublName":"EDP Sciences","City":"Les Ulis"}],"MONpubls":null,"pictures":[],"thestermsPath":null,"thestermsASFA":null,"taxtermsASFA":null,"geotermsASFA":null,"collections":[{"Collection":"OMA - Open Marien Archief","ShortName":"OMA"}],"conf":null,"proj":null,"Physdatasets":null,"spcols":{"222":{"SpName":"BMB - Belgische Mariene Bibliografie","SpColID":222,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"BMB","URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"BMB"},"901":{"SpName":"Extraterrestrial oceanography","SpColID":901,"ParSpColID":396,"TopParID":396,"ShortName":null,"URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":396,"SpColPath":"vliz:biblio/Extraterrestrial oceanography"},"221":{"SpName":"OMA - Open Marien Archief","SpColID":221,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"OMA","URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":1,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"OMA"},"396":{"SpName":"VLIZ Bibliographies","SpColID":396,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"vliz:biblio","URLLocation":null,"LibID":null,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"vliz:biblio"}},"doi":null,"publs":null,"serparttypes":null,"monauthors":null,"MParts":null,"SParts":null,"hLibs":null,"langs":[{"BEntID":380485,"AbstractFlag":0,"LangID":15,"LangCode":"en","Lang":"English","DutchTerm":"Engels","LangCodeExtended":"eng"},{"BEntID":380485,"AbstractFlag":1,"LangID":15,"LangCode":"en","Lang":"English","DutchTerm":"Engels","LangCodeExtended":"eng"}],"urls":[{"URL":"https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347539","externalID":"10.1051/0004-6361/202347539","URLTypeCode":"DOI","URLID":128014,"URLTypID":13,"URLType":"DOI","URLPrefix":"http://dx.doi.org/"}],"thesterms":null,"taxterms":null,"geoterms":null,"othterms":null,"asfacodes":null,"asfa2codes":null,"thestermsFRIS":null,"taxtermsFRIS":null,"geotermsFRIS":null,"othtermsFRIS":null,"resmessage":"","complete":1,"sessions":{"newSesName":"Lyssens, Liesbeth, L.","newSesDate":{"date":"2024-02-16 13:07:21.230000","timezone_type":3,"timezone":"Europe/Brussels"},"updSesName":"Bouchti, Zohra, Z.","updSesDate":{"date":"2024-02-26 08:43:13.013000","timezone_type":3,"timezone":"Europe/Brussels"}}}