Stellar versus Galactic: The intensity of energetic particles at the evolving Earth and young exoplanets

Energetic particles may have been important for the origin of life on Earth by driving the formation of prebiotic molecules. We calculate the intensity of energetic particles, in the form of stellar and Galactic cosmic rays, that reach Earth at the time when life is thought to have begun (similar to 3.8Gyr ago), using a combined 1.5D stellar wind model and 1D cosmic ray model. We formulate the evolution of a stellar cosmic ray spectrum with stellar age, based on the Hillas criterion. We find that stellar cosmic ray fluxes are larger than Galactic cosmic ray fluxes up to similar to 4 GeV cosmic ray energies similar to 3.8Gyr ago. However, the effect of stellar cosmic rays may not be continuous. We apply our model to HR2562b, a young warm Jupiter-like planet orbiting at 20 au from its host star where the effect of Galactic cosmic rays may be observable in its atmosphere. Even at 20 au, stellar cosmic rays dominate over Galactic cosmic rays.