The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program for JWST
Abstract
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) presents the opportunity to transform our understanding of planets and the origins of life by revealing the atmospheric compositions, structures, and dynamics of transiting exoplanets in unprecedented detail. However, the high-precision, time-series observations required for such investigations have unique technical challenges, and prior experience with other facilities indicates that there will be a steep learning curve when JWST becomes operational. In this paper we describe the science objectives and detailed plans of the Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science (ERS) Program, which is a recently approved program for JWST observations early in Cycle 1. The goal of this project, for which the obtained data will have no exclusive access period, is to accelerate the acquisition and diffusion of technical expertise for transiting exoplanet observations with JWST, while also providing a compelling set of representative datasets that will enable immediate scientific breakthroughs. The Transiting Exoplanet Community ERS Program will exercise the time-series modes of all four JWST instruments that have been identified as the consensus highest priorities, observe the full suite of transiting planet characterization geometries (transits, eclipses, and phase curves), and target planets with host stars that span an illustrative range of brightnesses. The observations in this program were defined through an inclusive and transparent process that had participation from JWST instrument experts and international leaders in transiting exoplanet studies. Community engagement in the project will be centered on a two-phase Data Challenge that culminates with the delivery of planetary spectra, time-series instrument performance reports, and open-source data analysis toolkits in time to inform the agenda for Cycle 2 of the JWST mission.
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@article{arxiv.1803.04985,
title = {The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program for JWST},
author = {Jacob L. Bean and Kevin B. Stevenson and Natalie M. Batalha and Zachory Berta-Thompson and Laura Kreidberg and Nicolas Crouzet and Björn Benneke and Michael R. Line and David K. Sing and Hannah R. Wakeford and Heather A. Knutson and Eliza M. -R. Kempton and Jean-Michel Désert and Ian Crossfield and Natasha E. Batalha and Julien de Wit and Vivien Parmentier and Joseph Harrington and Julianne I. Moses and Mercedes Lopez-Morales and Munazza K. Alam and Jasmina Blecic and Giovanni Bruno and Aarynn L. Carter and John W. Chapman and Leen Decin and Diana Dragomir and Thomas M. Evans and Jonathan J. Fortney and Jonathan D. Fraine and Peter Gao and Antonio García Muñoz and Neale P. Gibson and Jayesh M. Goyal and Kevin Heng and Renyu Hu and Sarah Kendrew and Brian M. Kilpatrick and Jessica Krick and Pierre-Olivier Lagage and Monika Lendl and Tom Louden and Nikku Madhusudhan and Avi M. Mandell and Megan Mansfield and Erin M. May and Giuseppe Morello and Caroline V. Morley and Nikolay Nikolov and Seth Redfield and Jessica E. Roberts and Everett Schlawin and Jessica J. Spake and Kamen O. Todorov and Angelos Tsiaras and Olivia Venot and William C. Waalkes and Peter J. Wheatley and Robert T. Zellem and Daniel Angerhausen and David Barrado and Ludmila Carone and Sarah L. Casewell and Patricio E. Cubillos and Mario Damiano and Miguel de Val-Borro and Benjamin Drummond and Billy Edwards and Michael Endl and Nestor Espinoza and Kevin France and John E. Gizis and Thomas P. Greene and Thomas K. Henning and Yucian Hong and James G. Ingalls and Nicolas Iro and Patrick G. J. Irwin and Tiffany Kataria and Fred Lahuis and Jérémy Leconte and Jorge Lillo-Box and Stefan Lines and Joshua D. Lothringer and Luigi Mancini and Franck Marchis and Nathan Mayne and Enric Palle and Emily Rauscher and Gaël Roudier and Evgenya L. Shkolnik and John Southworth and Mark R. Swain and Jake Taylor and Johanna Teske and Giovanna Tinetti and Pascal Tremblin and Gregory S. Tucker and Roy van Boekel and Ingo P. Waldmann and Ian C. Weaver and Tiziano Zingales},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1803.04985},
year = {2018}
}
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