Related papers: Probing exoplanet clouds with optical phase curves
NASA's Kepler mission observed background regions across its field of view for more than three consecutive years using custom designed super apertures (EXBA masks). Since these apertures were designed to capture a region of the sky rather…
Observations of Neptune with the Kepler Space Telescope yield a 49-day light curve with 98% coverage at a 1-minute cadence. A significant signature in the light curve comes from discrete cloud features. We compare results extracted from the…
Although transit spectroscopy is a powerful method for studying the composition, thermal properties and dynamics of exoplanet atmospheres, only a few transiting terrestrial exoplanets will be close enough to allow significant transit…
Observations of very low-mass stars with Kepler represent an excellent opportunity to search for planetary transits and to characterize optical photometric variability at the cool end of the stellar mass distribution. In this paper, we…
Orbital variation in reflected starlight from exoplanets could eventually be used to detect surface oceans. Exoplanets with rough surfaces, or dominated by atmospheric Rayleigh scattering, should reach peak brightness in full phase, orbital…
We study two intriguing exoplanets, Kepler-1520b and K2-22b, that are being disintegrated by their host stars, producing dust and debris pulled from their surface into tails that trail and precede the exoplanets in their orbits, making it…
Phase curves are the best technique to probe the three dimensional structure of exoplanets' atmospheres. In this chapter we first review current exoplanets phase curve observations and the particular challenges they face. We then describe…
We present an analytical model for the transmission spectrum of a transiting exoplanet, showing that a cloud base can produce an observable inflection point in the spectrum. The wavelength and magnitude of the inflection can be used to…
Exoplanets that orbit close to their host stars are much more highly irradiated than their Solar System counterparts. Understanding the thermal structures and appearances of these planets requires investigating how their atmospheres respond…
The direct detection of new extrasolar planets from high-precision photometry data is commonly based on the observation of the transit signal of the planet as it passes in front of its star. Close-in planets, however, leave additional…
The hot Jupiter HD189733b is the most extensively observed exoplanet. Its atmosphere has been detected and characterised in transmission and eclipse spectroscopy, and its phase curve measured at several wavelengths. This paper brings…
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…
Early-type B stars with strong magnetic fields and rapid rotation form centrifugal magnetospheres (CMs), as the relatively weak stellar wind becomes magnetically confined and centrifugally supported above the Kepler co-rotation radius. CM…
In most theories of planet formation, the snow-line represents a boundary between the emergence of the interior rocky planets and the exterior ice giants. The wide separation of the snow-line makes the discovery of transiting worlds…
Atmospheres regulate the planetary heat loss and therefore influence planetary thermal evolution. Uncertainty in a giant planet's thermal state contributes to the uncertainty in the inferred abundance of heavy elements it contains. Within…
The phase or orbital light curves of extrasolar terrestrial planets in reflected or emitted light will contain information about their atmospheres and surfaces complementary to data obtained by other techniques such as spectrosopy. We show…
As a test-bed for future investigations of directly imaged terrestrial exoplanets, we present the recovery of the surface components of the Earth from multi-band diurnal light curves obtained with the EPOXI spacecraft. We find that the…
Thousands of transiting exoplanets have been discovered, but spectral analysis of their atmospheres has so far been dominated by a small number of exoplanets and data spanning relatively narrow wavelength ranges (such as 1.1 to 1.7 {\mu}m).…
At optical wavelengths, Titan's brightness for large Sun-Titan-observer phase angles significantly exceeds its dayside brightness. The brightening that occurs near back-illumination is due to moderately large haze particles in the moon's…
As an exoplanet orbits its host star it reflects and emits light, forming a distinctive phase curve. By observing this light, we can study the atmosphere and surface of distant planets. The planets in our Solar System show a wide range of…