Revealing the atmospheres of highly irradiated exoplanets: from ultra-hot Jupiters to rocky worlds
-
Published:2023-03
Issue:3
Volume:368
Page:
-
ISSN:0004-640X
-
Container-title:Astrophysics and Space Science
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Astrophys Space Sci
Abstract
AbstractSpectroscopy of transiting exoplanets has revealed a wealth of information about their atmospheric compositions and thermal structures. In particular, studies of highly irradiated exoplanets at temperatures much higher than those found in our solar system have provided detailed information on planetary chemistry and physics because of the high level of precision which can be obtained from such observations. Here we use a variety of techniques to study the atmospheres of highly irradiated transiting exoplanets and address three large, open questions in exoplanet atmosphere spectroscopy. First, we use secondary eclipse and phase curve observations to investigate the thermal structures and heat redistribution of ultra-hot Jupiters, the hottest known exoplanets. We demonstrate how these planets form an unique class of objects influenced by high-temperature chemical effects such as molecular dissociation and H− opacity. Second, we use observations of helium in the upper atmosphere of the exo-Neptune HAT-P-11b to probe atmospheric escape processes. Third, we develop tools to interpret JWST observations of highly irradiated exoplanets, including a data analysis pipeline to perform eclipse mapping of hot Jupiters and a method to infer albedos of and detect atmospheres on hot, terrestrial planets. Finally, we discuss remaining open questions in the field of highly irradiated exoplanets and opportunities to advance our understanding of these unique bodies in the coming years.
Funder
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics
Reference99 articles.
1. Ali-Dib, M.: Disentangling hot Jupiters formation location from their chemical composition. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 467(3), 2845–2854 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx260. arXiv:1611.03128 [astro-ph.EP] 2. Allart, R., Bourrier, V., Lovis, C., Ehrenreich, D., Spake, J.J., Wyttenbach, A., Pino, L., Pepe, F., Sing, D.K., Lecavelier des Etangs, A.: Spectrally resolved helium absorption from the extended atmosphere of a warm Neptune-mass exoplanet. Science 362(6421), 1384–1387 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat5879. arXiv:1812.02189 [astro-ph.EP] 3. Arcangeli, J., Désert, J.-M., Line, M.R., Bean, J.L., Parmentier, V., Stevenson, K.B., Kreidberg, L., Fortney, J.J., Mansfield, M., Showman, A.P.: H− opacity and water dissociation in the dayside atmosphere of the very hot gas giant WASP-18b. Astrophys. J. Lett. 855, 30 (2018). https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aab272. arXiv:1801.02489 [astro-ph.EP] 4. Batalha, N.E., Mandell, A., Pontoppidan, K., Stevenson, K.B., Lewis, N.K., Kalirai, J., Earl, N., Greene, T., Albert, L., Nielsen, L.D.: PandExo: a community tool for transiting exoplanet science with JWST and HST. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 129(6), 064501 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aa65b0. arXiv:1702.01820 [astro-ph.IM] 5. Batygin, K., Stanley, S.: Non-axisymmetric flows on hot Jupiters with oblique magnetic fields. Astrophys. J. 794(1), 10 (2014)
|
|