Related papers: Interior structure models of GJ 436b
Exoplanet characterization is one of the main foci of current exoplanetary science. For super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, we mostly rely on mass and radius measurements, which allow to derive the body's mean density and give a rough estimate…
We have investigated the information content in reflected-starlight spectra of exoplanets. We specify our analysis to Barnard's Star b candidate super-Earth, for which we assume a radius 0.6 times that of Neptune, an atmosphere dominated by…
Precise atmospheric observations have been made for a growing sample of warm Neptunes. Here we investigate the correlations between these observations and a large number of system parameters to show that, at 95% confidence, the amplitude of…
We perform modeling investigations to aid in understanding the atmospheres and composition of small planets of ~2-4 Earth radii, which are now known to be common in our galaxy. GJ 1214b is a well studied example whose atmospheric…
The exoplanet GJ1214b presents an interesting example of compositional degeneracy for low-mass planets. Its atmosphere may be composed of water, super-solar or solar metallicity material. We present atmospheric circulation models of GJ1214b…
For most planets in the range of radii from 1 to 4 R$_{\oplus}$, water is a major component of the interior composition. At high pressure H${}_{2}$O can be solid, but for larger planets, like Neptune, the temperature can be too high for…
Most of the presently identified exoplanets have masses similar to that of Jupiter and therefore are assumed to be gaseous objects. With the ever-increasing interest in discovering lower-mass planets, several of the so-called super-Earths…
While the Solar System contains no planets between the sizes of Uranus and Saturn, our current exoplanet census includes several dozen such planets with well-measured masses and radii. These sub-Saturns exhibit a diversity of bulk…
Probing the interiors of the gas giant planets in our Solar System is not an easy task. It requires a set of accurate measurements combined with theoretical models that are used to infer the planetary composition and its depth dependence.…
Some super Earths and mini Neptunes will likely have thick atmospheres that are not H2-dominated. We have developed a photochemistry-thermochemistry kinetic-transport model for exploring the compositions of thick atmospheres on super Earths…
The angle between the spin of a star and its planets' orbital planes traces the history of the planetary system. Exoplanets orbiting close to cool stars are expected to be on circular, aligned orbits because of strong tidal interactions…
Static structure models, which map mass-radius constraints to bulk planet composition, are frequently used to categorise exoplanets due to their computational efficiency and the high-level insight they offer into planetary properties.…
We present a search for helium in the upper atmospheres of three sub-Neptune size planets to investigate the origins of these ubiquitous objects. The detection of helium for a low density planet would be strong evidence for the presence of…
We aim to study the atmospheric properties of the warm Neptune GJ 436 b by combining a set of five transit events observed with the CARMENES spectrograph with one transit from CRIRES$^+$ so as to provide the most constrained results…
In order to explain the significant orbital eccentricity of the short-period transiting Neptune-mass planet GJ 436b and at the same time satisfy various observational constraints and anomalies, Ribas, Font-Ribera and Beaulieu have proposed…
We report the results of infrared (8 micron) transit and secondary eclipse photometry of the hot Neptune exoplanet, GJ436b using Spitzer. The nearly photon-limited precision of these data allow us to measure an improved radius for the…
Since the discovery of the first giant planet outside the solar system in 1995 (Mayor & Queloz 1995), more than 180 extrasolar planets have been discovered. With improving detection capabilities, a new class of planets with masses 5-20…
We explore the evolution of sub-Neptune (radii between $\sim$1.5 and 4 R$_\oplus$) exoplanet interior structures using our upgraded evolution code, \texttt{APPLE}, which self-consistently couples the thermal and compositional evolution of…
Observations of transiting gas giant exoplanets have revealed a pervasive depletion of methane, which has only recently been identified atmospherically. The depletion is thought to be maintained by disequilibrium processes such as…
Modeling the interior of a planet is difficult because the small number of measured parameters is insufficient to constrain the many variables involved in describing the interior structure and composition. One solution is to invoke…