Related papers: EUV influences on exoplanet atmospheric stability …
I review the major open science questions in exoplanet atmospheres. These are mainly focused in the areas of understanding atmospheric physics, the atmosphere as a window into other realms of planetary physics, and the atmosphere is a…
The relative abundances of carbon and oxygen have long been recognized as fundamental diagnostics of stellar chemical evolution. Now, the growing number of exoplanet observations enable estimation of these elements in exoplanetary…
Characterizing rocky exoplanet atmospheres is a key goal of exoplanet science, but interpreting such observations will require understanding the stellar UV irradiation incident on the planet from its host star. Stellar UV mediates…
The coupled interior-atmosphere system of terrestrial exoplanets remains poorly understood. Exoplanets show a wide variety of sizes, densities, surface temperatures, and interior structures, with important knock-on effects for this coupled…
Atmospheric mass-loss is known to play a leading role in sculpting the demographics of small, close-in exoplanets. Knowledge of how such planets evolve allows one to ``rewind the clock'' to infer the conditions in which they formed. Here,…
The field of exoplanets is quickly expanding from just the detection of new planets and the measurement of their most basic parameters, such as mass, radius and orbital configuration, to the first measurements of their atmospheric…
Planetary atmospheric energy budgets primarily depend on stellar incident flux. However, stellar variability can have major consequences for the evolution of planetary climates. In this work, we evaluate how stellar variability influences…
This tutorial is an introduction to techniques used to characterize the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets. We intend it to be a useful guide for the undergraduate, graduate student, or postdoctoral scholar who wants to begin research in…
Evolved stars are among the primary sources of chemical enrichment and dust production in galaxies. During the giant phases, stars return a substantial fraction of their mass to the interstellar medium (ISM) through stellar winds, enriching…
The formation of gas giant planets must occur during the first few Myr of a star's lifetime, when the protoplanetary disc still contains sufficient gas to be accreted onto the planetary core. The majority of protoplanetary discs are exposed…
The EXO-UV program is an international, interdisciplinary collaboration between astrophysicists and biologists aimed at expanding the characterization of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) environments on exoplanets. This approach combines…
Context. The detection of the He I 10830 A triplet in exoplanet atmospheres has opened a new window for probing planetary properties, including atmospheric escape. Unlike Lyman alpha, the triplet is less affected by ISM absorption.…
Oxygenic photosynthesis is the most important biochemical process in Earth biosphere and likely very common on other habitable terrestrial planets, given the general availability of its input chemical ingredients and of light as source of…
We study the interactions between the stellar wind plasma flow of a typical M star, such as GJ 436, and hydrogen-rich upper atmospheres of an Earth-like planet and a "super-Earth" with the radius of 2 R_Earth and a mass of 10 M_Earth,…
Photometric stability is a key requirement for time-resolved spectroscopic observations of transiting extrasolar planets. In the context of the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) mission design, we here present and investigate…
Exoplanets on close-in orbit are subject to intense X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) irradiation from their star. Their atmosphere therefore heats up, sometimes to the point where it thermally escapes from the gravitational potential of the…
Many evolutionary models of giant exoplanets still rely on simplifying assumptions that are no longer adequate given detailed constraints from Jupiter, Saturn, and modern exoplanet observations. Here, we identify the key physical…
A reasonable basis for future astronomical investigations of exoplanets lies in our best knowledge of the planets and satellites in the Solar System. Solar System bodies exhibit a wide variety of surface environments, even including…
In the last decade, about a dozen giant exoplanets have been directly imaged in the IR as companions to young stars. With photometry and spectroscopy of these planets in hand from new extreme coronagraphic instruments such as SPHERE at VLT…
The discovery of planets orbiting stars other than the Sun has accelerated over the past decade, and this trend will continue as new space- and ground-based observatories employ next-generation instrumentation to search the skies for…