Related papers: Cross-sections for heavy atmospheres: H$_2$O conti…
The presence of aerosols in an exoplanet atmosphere can veil the underlying material and can lead to a flat transmission spectrum during primary transit observations. In this work, we explore forward scattering effects from super-micron…
Currently, the analysis of transmission spectra is the most successful technique to probe the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. But the accuracy of these measurements is constrained by observational limitations and the…
Exploring diverse planetary atmospheres requires modeling tools that are both accurate and flexible. Here, we develop a three-dimensional general circulation model (3D GCM) that for the first time uses a line-by-line approach to describe…
Neptune-size exoplanets are less studied as characterizing their atmospheres presents challenges due to their relatively small radius and atmospheric scale height. As the most common outcome of planet formation, these planets are crucial…
Future direct-imaging exoplanet missions such as WFIRST/AFTA, Exo-C, and Exo-S will measure the reflectivity of exoplanets at visible wavelengths. The exoplanets to be observed will be located further away from their parent stars than is…
Gas-giant planets emit a large fraction of their light in the mid-infrared ($\gtrsim$3$\mu$m), where photometry and spectroscopy are critical to our understanding of the bulk properties of extrasolar planets. Of particular importance are…
Much of the focus of exoplanet atmosphere analysis in the coming decade will be at infrared wavelengths, with the planned launches of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). However,…
Recent progress in high-resolution transmission spectroscopy has offered new avenues in which to characterise the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets. High-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy allows for the unambiguous detection of…
We report observations of two consecutive transits of the warm super-Earth exoplanet GJ1214b at 3.6 and 4.5 microns with the Infrared Array Camera instrument on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The two transit light curves allow for the…
The two prevailing planet formation scenarios, core-accretion and disk instability, predict distinct planetary mass-metallicity relations. Yet, the detection of this trend remains challenging due to inadequate data on planet atmosphere…
Atmospheres of transiting exoplanets can be studied spectroscopically using space-based or ground-based observations. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so there are benefits to both approaches. This is especially true for…
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…
Over the past decade, observations of evaporating exoplanets have become increasingly common, driven by the discovery of the near-infrared helium-triplet line as a powerful probe of atmospheric escape. This process significantly influences…
We re-visit the principles of transmission spectroscopy for transiting extrasolar planets, focusing on the overlap between the planetary spectrum and the illuminating stellar spectrum. Virtually all current models of exoplanetary…
The TRAPPIST-1 system is home to at least seven terrestrial planets and is a target of interest for future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations. Additionally, these planets will be of interest to future missions making…
Space-based photometric surveys have discovered large numbers of planets transiting other stars, but these observe in a single band-pass and yield only the planet radius, orbital period, and transit duration. Information on the masses,…
We used WIRCam on CFHT to observe four transits of the super-Earth GJ 1214b in the near-infrared. For each transit we observed in two bands nearly-simultaneously by rapidly switching the WIRCam filter wheel back and forth for the duration…
We report on a pilot study of a novel observing technique, defocussed transmission spectroscopy, and its application to the study of exoplanet atmospheres using ground-based platforms. Similar to defocussed photometry, defocussed…
High-resolution spectroscopy has provided a wealth of information about the climate and composition of ultra-hot Jupiters. However, the 3D structure of their atmospheres makes observations more challenging to interpret, necessitating 3D…
Ground-based observations of the secondary transit in the 2MASS K band are presented for the hot Jupiter WASP-121b. These are the first occultation observations of an extrasolar planet carried out with an instrument attached to a 1m-class…