Changing Face of the Extrasolar Giant Planet, HD 209458b
Abstract
High-resolution atmospheric flow simulations of the tidally-locked extrasolar giant planet, HD 209458b, show large-scale spatio-temporal variability. This is in contrast to the simple, permanent day/night (i.e., hot/cold) picture. The planet's global circulation is characterized by a polar vortex in motion around each pole and a banded structure corresponding to ~3 broad zonal (east-west) jets. For very strong jets, the circulation-induced temperature difference between moving hot and cold regions can reach up to ~1000 K, suggesting that atmospheric variability could be observed in the planet's spectral and photometric signatures.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0209227,
title = {Changing Face of the Extrasolar Giant Planet, HD 209458b},
author = {James Y-K. Cho and Kristen Menou and Brad Hansen and Sara Seager},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0209227},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages, 1 ps figure, 2 low-res color figures (JPEG). Figure 3 updated. Contact authors for hi-res versions of color figures. Accepted for publication in ApJL