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Related papers: Observability of Evaporating Lava Worlds

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is predicted to make great advances in the field of exoplanet atmospheres. Its 25 m2 mirror means that it can reach unprecedented levels of precision in observations of transit spectra, and can thus…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-02-10 Joanna K. Barstow , Suzanne Aigrain , Patrick G. J. Irwin , Sarah Kendrew , Leigh N. Fletcher

We present a new first-principles analytic approach to interpreting eclipses and phase curves of rocky planets. Observations with JWST have reported nondetections of atmospheres around the majority of hot rocky planets orbiting M dwarfs.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-01-29 Christopher P. Wirth , Diana Powell , Robin Wordsworth

Nine transiting Earth-sized planets have recently been discovered around nearby late M dwarfs, including the TRAPPIST-1 planets and two planets discovered by the MEarth survey, GJ 1132b and LHS 1140b. These planets are the smallest known…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2017-12-06 Caroline V. Morley , Laura Kreidberg , Zafar Rustamkulov , Tyler Robinson , Jonathan J. Fortney

We investigate the detectability of atmospheric spectral features of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around M dwarfs with the future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We use a coupled 1D climate-chemistry-model to simulate…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-05-08 F. Wunderlich , M. Godolt , J. L. Grenfell , S. Städt , A. M. S. Smith , S. Gebauer , F. Schreier , P. Hedelt , H. Rauer

The primary scientific objective of this Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Science Case Development Document (SCDD) is to measure planetary rotation rates of transiting exoplanets to determine the structure, composition, circulation, and…

The era of exoplanet characterization is upon us. For a subset of exoplanets -- the transiting planets -- physical properties can be measured, including mass, radius, and atmosphere characteristics. Indeed, measuring the atmospheres of a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 S. Seager , D. Deming , J. A. Valenti

The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system provides an unprecedented opportunity to study terrestrial exoplanet evolution with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and ground-based observatories. Since M dwarf planets likely experience extreme…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2018-11-07 Andrew P. Lincowski , Victoria S. Meadows , David Crisp , Tyler D. Robinson , Rodrigo Luger , Jacob Lustig-Yaeger , Giada N. Arney

A terrestrial planet is molten during formation and may remain so if subject to intense insolation or tidal forces. Observations continue to favour the detection and characterisation of hot planets, potentially with large outgassed…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-11-11 Dan J. Bower , Daniel Kitzmann , Aaron S. Wolf , Patrick Sanan , Caroline Dorn , Apurva V. Oza

The upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) means that we will soon have the capability to characterize the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets. However, it is still unknown whether such planets orbiting close to M dwarf stars…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-01-08 Megan Mansfield , Edwin S. Kite , Renyu Hu , Daniel D. B. Koll , Matej Malik , Jacob L. Bean , Eliza. M. -R. Kempton

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…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-06-26 Jacob Lustig-Yaeger , Victoria S. Meadows , Andrew P. Lincowski

Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their day-side is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava planets are tidally locked into synchronous rotation, with…

This letter reports 12 novel spectroscopic detections of warm circumstellar dust orbiting polluted white dwarfs using JWST MIRI. The disks span two orders of magnitude in fractional infrared brightness and more than double the number of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-01-31 J. Farihi , K. Y. L. Su , C. Melis , S. J. Kenyon , A. Swan , S. Redfield , M. C. Wyatt , J. H. Debes

We investigate spectra of airless rocky exoplanets with a theoretical framework that self-consistently treats reflection and thermal emission. We find that a silicate surface on an exoplanet is spectroscopically detectable via prominent…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-04 Renyu Hu , Bethany L. Ehlmann , Sara Seager

JWST observations are leading to important new insights into exoplanetary atmospheres through transmission spectroscopy. In order to harness the full potential of the broad spectral range and high sensitivity of JWST, atmospheric retrievals…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-03-11 Savvas Constantinou , Nikku Madhusudhan

With its expanded wavelength coverage and increased precision compared to previous space-based observatories, JWST provides the opportunity to revisit benchmark planets and view them in a new light. Here, we conduct an in-depth study of the…

The recent first measurements of the reflection of the surface of a lava world provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate different stages of rocky planet evolution. The spectral features of the surfaces of rocky lava world…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-10-07 Marc-Antoine Fortin , Esteban Gazel , Lisa Kaltenegger , Megan E. Holycross

Many known rocky exoplanets are so highly irradiated that their dayside surfaces are molten, and `silicate atmospheres', composed of rock-forming elements, are generated above these lava pools. The compositions of these `lava planet'…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-11-22 Alfred Curry , Subhanjoy Mohanty , James E. Owen

The unprecedented accuracy of JWST has led to the detection of silicate clouds in exoplanet atmospheres, allowing for the first time to probe cloud formation in extreme environments. While parametrized cloud descriptions can fit these…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-03-16 Sven Kiefer , Caroline V. Morley , Melanie Rowland

The field of exoplanet atmospheric characterization has recently made considerable advances with the advent of high-resolution spectroscopy from large ground-based telescopes and the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-04-25 Eliza M. -R. Kempton , Heather A. Knutson