Related papers: Thermal escape from extrasolar giant planets
We present a catalog of uniformly processed 3.6-$\mu$m and 4.5-$\mu$m band exoplanet thermal phase curves based on Infrared Array Camera observations obtained from the Spitzer Heritage Archive. The catalog includes phase curve measurements…
We report new near ultraviolet HST/STIS observations of atmospheric absorptions during the planetary transit of HD209458b. We detect absorption in atomic magnesium (MgI), while no signal has been detected in the lines of singly ionized…
The role of radiation pressure in shaping exoplanet photoevaporation remains a topic of contention. Radiation pressure from the exoplanet's host star has been proposed as a mechanism to drive the escaping atmosphere into a "cometary" tail…
As gas giant planets evolve, they may scatter other planets far from their original orbits to produce hot Jupiters or rogue planets that are not gravitationally bound to any star. Here, we consider planets cast out to large orbital…
An intriguing pattern among exoplanets is the lack of detected planets between approximately $1.5$ R$_\oplus$ and $2.0$ R$_\oplus$. One proposed explanation for this "radius gap" is the photoevaporation of planetary atmospheres, a theory…
Identifying Earth-like planets outside out solar system is a leading research goal in astronomy, but determining if candidate planets have atmospheres, and more importantly if they can retain atmospheres, is still out of reach. In this…
We calculate self-consistent extrasolar giant planet (EGP) phase functions and light curves for orbital distances ranging from 0.2 AU to 15 AU. We explore the dependence on wavelength, cloud condensation, and Keplerian orbital elements. We…
Strong atmospheric escape has been detected in several close-in exoplanets. As these planets consist mostly of hydrogen, observations in hydrogen lines, such as Ly-alpha and H-alpha, are powerful diagnostics of escape. Here, we simulate the…
We investigate the effect of planetary rotation on the transit spectrum of an extrasolar giant planet. During ingress and egress, absorption features arising from the planet's atmosphere are Doppler shifted by of order the planet's…
Photoionization heating from UV radiation incident on the atmospheres of hot Jupiters may drive planetary mass loss. We construct a model of escape that includes realistic heating and cooling, ionization balance, tidal gravity, and pressure…
Large-scale characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres is on the horizon, thereby making it possible in the future to extract their statistical properties. In this context, by using a well validated model in the solar system, we carry out…
Transits in the H I 1216 A (Lyman alpha), O I 1334 A, C II 1335 A, and Si III 1206.5 A lines constrain the properties of the upper atmosphere of HD209458b. In addition to probing the temperature and density profiles in the thermosphere,…
A large number of terrestrial planets in the classical habitable zone of stars of different spectral types has already been discovered and many are expected to be discovered in near future. However, owing to the lack of knowledge on the…
When extrasolar planets are observed to transit their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for transiting planets that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and…
Aims. In this letter, we calculate for the first time the full transonic hydrodynamic escape of an Earth-like atmosphere. We consider the case of an Earth-mass planet with an atmospheric composition identical to that of the current Earth…
Of the over 800 exoplanets detected to date, over half are on non-circular orbits, with eccentricities as high as 0.93. Such orbits lead to time-variable stellar heating, which has implications for the planet's atmospheric dynamical regime.…
Most current models of hot-exoplanet atmospheres assume shallow heating, a strong day-night differential heating near the top of the atmosphere. Here we investigate the effects of energy deposition at differing depths in a model tidally…
Observations have revealed in the Kepler data a depleted region separating smaller super-Earths from larger sub-Neptunes. This can be explained as an evaporation valley between planets with and without H/He that is caused by atmospheric…
The increase in luminosity with time of a main sequence star eventually can lead to substantial evaporation of the oceans on an orbiting terrestrial planet. Subsequently, the gas phase water in the planet's upper atmosphere can be…
We present Spitzer Space Telescope infrared photometric time series of the transiting extrasolar planet system TrES-1. The data span a predicted time of secondary eclipse, corresponding to the passage of the planet behind the star. In both…