Related papers: Detecting and Constraining N$_2$ Abundances in Pla…
Future direct-imaging exoplanet missions such as WFIRST/AFTA, Exo-C, and Exo-S will measure the reflectivity of exoplanets at visible wavelengths. The exoplanets to be observed will be located further away from their parent stars than is…
The search for life on exoplanets is one of the grand scientific challenges of our time. The strategy to date has been to find (e.g., through transit surveys like Kepler) Earth-like exoplanets in their stars habitable zone, then use…
Sub-Neptunes (Rp~1.25-4 REarth) remain the most commonly detected exoplanets to date. However, it remains difficult for observations to tell whether these intermediate-sized exoplanets have surfaces and where their surfaces are located.…
Exoplanet exploration has revealed that many$\unicode{x2013}$perhaps most$\unicode{x2013}$terrestrial exoplanets formed with substantial H$_2$-rich envelopes, seemingly in contrast to solar system terrestrials, for which there is scant…
Constraining planet formation based on the atmospheric composition of exoplanets is a fundamental goal of the exoplanet community. Existing studies commonly try to constrain atmospheric abundances, or to analyze what abundance patterns a…
The geology of Earth and super-Earth sized planets will, in many cases, only be observable via their atmospheres. Here, we investigate secondary volcanic atmospheres as a key base case of how atmospheres may reflect planetary geochemistry.…
CO$_2$ is an important, stable, and abundant molecule in the Universe, but it is very difficult to detect because it has no observable pure rotational transitions. The unique sensitivity and resolution of the James Webb Space Telescope…
Binary stars hosting exoplanets are a unique laboratory where chemical tagging can be performed to measure with high accuracy the elemental abundances of both stellar components, with the aim to investigate the formation of planets and…
Early Mars may have had a warmer and denser atmosphere allowing for the presence of liquid water on the surface. However, climate model studies have not been able to reproduce these conditions even with a CO2 atmosphere of several bars.…
We use a model of aerosol microphysics to investigate the impact of high-altitude photochemical aerosols on the transmission spectra and atmospheric properties of close-in exoplanets, such as HD209458b and HD189733b. The results depend…
Rocky planets may acquire a primordial atmosphere by outgassing of volatiles from their magma ocean. The distribution of O between H$_2$O, CO and CO$_2$ in chemical equilibrium subsequently changes significantly with decreasing temperature.…
We highlight the importance of transit observations on understanding the physics of planetary atmospheres and interiors. Transmission spectra and emission spectra allow us to characterize this exotic atmospheres, which possess TiO, VO, H2O,…
Atmospheres above lava-ocean planets (LOPs) hold clues as to the properties of their interiors, owing to the expectation that the two reservoirs are in chemical equilibrium. Here we consider `mineral' atmospheres produced in equilibrium…
Evidence of disequilibrium chemistry due to vertical mixing in the atmospheres of many T and Y-dwarfs has been inferred due to enhanced mixing ratios of CO and reduced NH$_3$. Atmospheric models of planets and brown dwarfs typically…
Context. Photochemistry is a key process driving planetary atmospheres away from local thermodynamic equilibrium. Recent observations of the H$_2$ dominated atmospheres of hot gas giants have detected SO$_2$ as one of the major products of…
A planetary atmosphere is the outer gas layer of a planet. Besides its scientific significance among the first and most accessible planetary layers observed from space, it is closely connected with planetary formation and evolution, surface…
The first JWST observations of hot Jupiters showed an unexpected detection of SO2 in their hydrogen-rich atmospheres. We investigate how much sulphur can be expected in the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets and which sulphur molecules can be…
Molecular species in planetary atmospheres provide key insights into their atmospheric processes and formation conditions. In recent years, high-resolution Doppler spectroscopy in the near-infrared has allowed detections of H$_2$O and CO in…
We revisit the possibility of detecting an extrasolar planet around a background star as it crosses the fold caustic of a foreground binary lens. During such an event, the planet's flux can be magnified by a factor of ~100 or more. The…
We present a comprehensive photochemistry model for exploration of the chemical composition of terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres. The photochemistry model is designed from the ground up to have the capacity to treat all types of terrestrial…