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The search for water-rich Earth-sized exoplanets around low-mass stars is rapidly gaining attention because they represent the best opportunity to characterize habitable planets in the near future. Understanding the atmospheres of these…
Recent surveys have revealed that planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune ("super-Earths") are among the most common planets in the Galaxy. Atmospheric studies are the next step toward developing a comprehensive understanding…
In the past few years, the study of exoplanets has evolved from being pure discovery, then being more exploratory in nature and finally becoming very quantitative. In particular, transmission spectroscopy now allows the study of…
We discuss a series of Earthshine spectra obtained with the NTT/EMMI instrument between 320nm and 1020nm with a resolution of R~450 in the blue and R~250 in the red. These ascending and descending Moon's Earthshine spectra taken from Chile…
Atmospheric studies of spectroscopically accessible terrestrial exoplanets lay the groundwork for comparative planetology between these worlds and the Solar System terrestrial planets. LHS 3844b is a highly-irradiated terrestrial exoplanet…
We report a model study on the effects of clouds on emission spectra of super-Venus planets. Our goal is to assess possible ways to identify characteristic spectral features due to clouds. We show that it is possible to distinguish an…
Exoplanet transmission spectra, which measure the absorption of light passing through a planet's atmosphere during transit, are most often assessed globally, resulting in a single spectrum per planetary atmosphere. However, the inherent…
Through a simple physical argument we show that the slant optical depth through the atmosphere of a "hot Jupiter" planet is 35-90 times greater than the normal optical depth. This not unexpected result has direct consequences for the method…
We estimate the strength of the bandpass-integrated thermal emission from the extrasolar planet HD 209458b at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns using the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. We observe a single…
The discovery of super-Earth and mini-Neptune exoplanets means that atmospheric signals from low-mass, temperate exoplanets are being increasingly studied. The signal acquired as the planet transits its host star, known as the transit…
Understanding a planet's atmosphere is a necessary condition for understanding not only the planet itself, but also its formation, structure, evolution, and habitability, This puts a premium on obtaining spectra, and developing credible…
We use solar occultations observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer aboard the Cassini Spacecraft to extract the 1 to 5 micron transmission spectrum of Saturn, as if it were a transiting exoplanet. We detect absorption from…
With the increasing number of planets discovered by TESS, the atmospheric characterization of small exoplanets is accelerating. L98-59 is a M-dwarf hosting a multi-planet system, and so far, four small planets have been confirmed. The…
The mesosphere of Venus is a critical range of altitudes in which complex temperature variability has been extensively studied by the space mission Venus Express (Vex) during its eight-years mission (2006-2014). Data collected at different…
Investigating the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets is key to performing comparative planetology between these worlds and the terrestrial planets that reside in the inner solar system. Terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres exhibit weak signals,…
We have revisited the search for carbon monoxide absorption features in transmission during the transit of the extrasolar planet HD 209458b. We acquired 1077 high resolution spectra at 2 microns using NIRSPEC on Keck II during three…
Until recently, it was considered by many that ground-based photometry could not reach the high cadence sub-mmag regime because of the presence of the atmosphere. Indeed, high frequency atmospheric noises (mainly scintillation) limit the…
The highly irradiated transiting exoplanet, HAT-P-7b, currently provides one of the best opportunities for studying planetary emission in the optical and infrared wavelengths. We observe six near-consecutive secondary eclipses of HAT-P-7b…
The next generation of ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to observe rocky Earth-like planets in the near future, transiting their host star. We explore how the transmission spectrum of Earth changed through its geological…
Considering the relatively high precision that will be reached by future observatories, it has recently become clear that one dimensional (1D) atmospheric models, in which the atmospheric temperature and composition of a planet are…