Related papers: Modeling Pluto's Minimum Pressure: Implications fo…
Hazes are common in known planet atmospheres, and geochemical evidence suggests early Earth occasionally supported an organic haze with significant environmental and spectral consequences. The UV spectrum of the parent star drives organic…
Titan has a climate system with similarities to Earth, including the presence of a thick atmosphere made up of several atmospheric layers. As on Earth, Titan's climate is influenced by several factors: the gaseous species making up the…
We study the properties of photochemical hazes in super-Earths/mini-Neptunes atmospheres with particular focus on GJ1214b. We evaluate photochemical haze properties at different metallicities between solar and 10000$\times$solar. Within the…
The optical properties of the second generation dust that we observe in debris disks remain quite elusive, whether it is the absorption efficiencies at millimeter wavelengths or the (un)polarized phase function at near-infrared wavelengths.…
Planets with 2 $R_{\oplus}$ < $R$ < 3 $R_{\oplus}$ and orbital period $<$100 d are abundant; these sub-Neptune exoplanets are not well understood. For example, $Kepler$ sub-Neptunes are likely to have deep magma oceans in contact with their…
As a contribution to the study of the habitability of extrasolar planets, we implemented a 1-D Energy Balance Model (EBM), the simplest seasonal model of planetary climate, with new prescriptions for most physical quantities. Here we apply…
We present a coupled reorientation and climate model, to understand how true polar wander (TPW) and atmospheric condensation worked together to create the Sputnik Planitia (SP) ice sheet and reorient it to its present-day location on Pluto.…
Energy limits that delineate the `habitable zone' for exoplanets depend on a given exoplanet's net planetary albedo (or `Bond albedo'). We here demonstrate that the planetary albedo of an observed exoplanet is limited by the above-cloud…
Formation of hazes at microbar pressures has been explored by theoretical models of exoplanet atmospheres to explain Rayleigh scattering and/or featureless transmission spectra, however observational evidence of aerosols in the low pressure…
The presence of N2 in the surface environment of Pluto is critical in creating Pluto's richness of features and processes. Here, we propose that the nitrogen atoms in the N2 observed on Pluto were accreted in that chemical form during the…
Transmission spectroscopy provides a window to study exoplanetary atmospheres, but that window is fogged by clouds and hazes. Clouds and haze introduce a degeneracy between the strength of gaseous absorption features and planetary physical…
We investigate the effects of varying Saturn's orbit on the atmospheric circulation and surface methane distribution of Titan. Using a new general circulation model of Titan's atmosphere, we simulate its climate under four characteristic…
We present a study of photochemical hazes of exoplanet atmospheres based on a self-consistent model including haze microphysics, disequilibrium chemistry, and radiative feedbacks. We derive the haze properties required to match HST…
High altitude clouds and hazes are integral to understanding exoplanet observations, and are proposed to explain observed featureless transit spectra. However, it is difficult to make inferences from these data because of the need to…
The deep nitrogen-covered Sputnik Planitia (SP; informal name) basin on Pluto is located very close to the longitude of Pluto's tidal axis[1] and may be an impact feature [2], by analogy with other large basins in the solar system[3,4].…
Noble gases are accreted to the giant planets as part of the gas component of the planet-forming disk. While heavier noble gases can separate from the evolution of the hydrogen-rich gas, helium is thought to remain at the protosolar H/He…
The observed mass-radius relationship of low-mass planets informs our understanding of their composition and evolution. Recent discoveries of low mass, large radii objects ("super-puffs") have challenged theories of planet formation and…
A combined fluid/kinetic model is developed to calculate thermally driven escape of N2 from Pluto's atmosphere for two solar heating conditions: no heating above 1450 km and solar minimum heating conditions. In the combined model,…
We present results from 3D simulations of the Archean Earth including a prescribed (non-interactive) spherical haze generated through a 1D photochemical model. Our simulations suggest that a thin haze layer, formed when CH4/CO2 = 0.1, leads…
Ultra-hot Jupiters have recently attracted interest from observers and theoreticians alike, as they provide observationally accessible test cases. We apply a hierarchical modelling approach as a virtual laboratory to study cloud formation…