Atmospheric composition and structure of HD209458b
Abstract
Transiting planets like HD209458b offer a unique opportunity to scrutinize their atmospheric composition and structure. Transit spectroscopy probes the transition region between the day and night sides, called limb. We present a re-analysis of existing archived HST/STIS transmission spectra of HD209458b's atmosphere. From these observations we: Identify H2 Rayleigh scattering, derive the absolute Sodium abundance and quantify its depletion in the upper atmosphere, extract a stratospheric T-P profile with a temperature inversion and explain broad band absorptions with the presence of TiO and VO molecules in the atmosphere of this planet.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0808.3987,
title = {Atmospheric composition and structure of HD209458b},
author = {J. -M. Désert and A. Vidal-Madjar and A. Lecavelier des Etangs and D. Sing and D. Ehrenreich and G. Hébrard and R. Ferlet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0808.3987},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the 253rd IAU Symposium: "Transiting Planets", May 2008, Cambridge, MA