Related papers: An ultrahot gas-giant exoplanet with a stratospher…
The temperature profile of a planetary atmosphere is a key diagnostic of radiative and dynamical processes governing the absorption, redistribution, and emission of energy. Observations have revealed dayside stratospheres that either cool…
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…
Highly-irradiated giant exoplanets known as "ultra-hot Jupiters" are anticipated to exhibit large variations of atmospheric temperature and chemistry as a function of longitude, latitude, and altitude. Previous observations have hinted at…
We present a primary transit observation for the ultra hot (Teq~2400K) gas giant expolanet WASP-121b, made using the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 in spectroscopic mode across the 1.12-1.64 micron wavelength range. The 1.4…
As an exoplanet transits its host star, some of the light from the star is absorbed by the atoms and molecules in the planet's atmosphere, causing the planet to seem bigger; plotting the planet's observed size as a function of the…
We present one of the most precise emission spectra of an exoplanet observed so far. We combine five secondary eclipses of the hot Jupiter WASP-18 b (Tday=2900K) that we secured between 1.1 and 1.7 micron with the WFC3 instrument aboard the…
Detailed characterization of exoplanets has begun to yield measurements of their atmospheric properties that constrain the planets' origins and evolution. For example, past observations of the dayside emission spectrum of the hot Jupiter…
The super-Neptune exoplanet WASP-107b is an exciting target for atmosphere characterization. It has an unusually large atmospheric scale height and a small, bright host star, raising the possibility of precise constraints on its current…
High-resolution spectroscopy (HRS) has grown into one of the main techniques to characterise the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. High spectral resolving power allows for the efficient removal of telluric and host-star contamination.…
The temperature of an atmosphere decreases with increasing altitude, unless a shortwave absorber exists that causes a temperature inversion. Ozone plays this role in the Earth`s atmosphere. In the atmospheres of highly irradiated…
High-resolution spectroscopy studies of ultra-hot Jupiters have been key in our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. Observing into the atmospheres of these giant planets allows for direct constraints on their atmospheric compositions…
The abundances of major carbon and oxygen bearing gases in the atmospheres of giant exoplanets provide insights into atmospheric chemistry and planet formation processes. Thermochemistry suggests that methane should be the dominant…
Of the over 200 known extrasolar planets, 14 exhibit transits in front of their parent stars as seen from Earth. Spectroscopic observations of the transiting planets can probe the physical conditions of their atmospheres. One such technique…
WASP-39b is a hot Saturn-mass exoplanet with a predicted clear atmosphere based on observations in the optical and infrared. Here we complete the transmission spectrum of the atmosphere with observations in the near-infrared (NIR) over…
Detections of molecules in the atmosphere of gas giant exoplanets allow us to investigate the physico-chemical properties of the atmospheres. Their inferred chemical composition is used as tracer of planet formation and evolution…
Thanks to the advances in modern instrumentation we have learned about many exoplanets that span a wide range of masses and composition. Studying their atmospheres provides insight into planetary origin, evolution, dynamics, and…
A radiative-convective climate model is used to calculate stratospheric temperatures and water vapor concentrations for ozone-free atmospheres warmer than that of modern Earth. Cold, dry stratospheres are predicted at low surface…
Close-in giant exoplanets with temperatures greater than 2,000 K (''ultra-hot Jupiters'') have been the subject of extensive efforts to determine their atmospheric properties using thermal emission measurements from the Hubble and Spitzer…
The field of exo-atmospheric characterisation is progressing at an extraordinary pace. Atmospheric observations are now available for tens of exoplanets, mainly hot and warm inflated gas giants, and new molecular species continue to be…
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (i.e., elements heavier than helium, also called…