Related papers: Evolutionary models of cold and low-mass planets: …
Context: Low-mass stars and extrasolar planets have ultra-cool atmospheres where a rich chemistry occurs and clouds form. The increasing amount of spectroscopic observations for extrasolar planets requires self-consistent model atmosphere…
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…
When directly imaging a cold giant exoplanet hosting a ring system, the reflected light from the rings can outshine the planet's thermal emission and reflected-light in the near-infrared. Consequently, an exoring may be detectable at a…
Exoplanets with radii between those of Earth and Neptune have stronger surface gravity than Earth, and can retain a sizable hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. In contrast to gas giant planets, we call these planets gas dwarf planets. The James…
JWST promises to be the most versatile infrared observatory for the next two decades. The Near Infrared and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument, when used in the Aperture Masking Interferometry (AMI) mode, will provide an unparalleled…
We discuss our current understanding of the interior structure and thermal evolution of giant planets. This includes the gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, as well as the "ice…
We present a new analysis of the potential power of deep, near-infrared, imaging surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to improve our knowledge of galaxy evolution. In this work we properly simulate what can be achieved with…
There is a degeneracy in the interior structure between a planet that has no atmosphere and a small Fe content, and a planet that has a thin atmosphere and a higher core mass fraction. We present a self-consistent interior-atmosphere model…
Space telescopes such as EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) and JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) will be important for the future study of extrasolar planet atmospheres. Both of these missions are capable of performing high…
Astronomical surveys have identified numerous exoplanets with bulk compositions that are unlike the planets of the Solar System, including rocky super-Earths and gas-enveloped sub-Neptunes. Observing the atmospheres of these objects…
The wavelength-coverage and sensitivity of JWST now enables us to probe the rest-frame UV - optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies at high-redshift ($z>4$). From these SEDs it is, in principle, through SED fitting possible…
The population of short-period giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars is slowly rising. These planets present an extraordinary opportunity for atmospheric characterisation and defy our current understanding of planetary formation.…
Young giant planets are the best targets for characterization with direct imaging. The Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will give access to…
The favored theoretical explanation for giant planet formation -- in both our solar system and others -- is the core accretion model (although it still has some serious difficulties). In this scenario, planetesimals accumulate to build up…
The origin of close-in giant planets is a key open question in planet formation theory. The two leading models are (i) formation at the outer disk followed by migration and (ii) in situ formation. In this work we determine the atmospheric…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will offer the first opportunity to characterize terrestrial exoplanets with sufficient precision to identify high mean molecular weight atmospheres, and TRAPPIST-1's seven known transiting Earth-sized…
[Abridged] A key hypothesis in the field of exoplanet atmospheres is the trend of atmospheric thermal structure with planetary equilibrium temperature. We explore this trend and report here the first statistical detection of a transition in…
Two of TESS's major science goals are to measure masses for 50 planets smaller than 4 Earth radii and to discover high-quality targets for atmospheric characterization efforts. It is important that these two goals are linked by quantifying…
Near-term studies of Venus-like atmospheres with JWST promise to advance our knowledge of terrestrial planet evolution. However, the remote study of Venus in the Solar System and the ongoing efforts to characterize gaseous exoplanets both…
Recently K2 and TESS have discovered transiting planets with radii between $\sim$ 5-10 R$_\oplus$ around stars with ages $<100$ Myr. These young planets are likely to be the progenitors of the ubiquitous super-earths/sub-neptunes, that are…