Related papers: The deep oxygen abundance in Solar System Giant Pl…
Thermochemical equilibrium and kinetic calculations for the trace gases CO, PH3, and SiH4 give three independent constraints on the water and total oxygen abundances of Saturn's deep atmosphere. A lower limit to the water abundance of…
Water is an important component of exoplanets, with its distribution, i.e., whether at the surface or deep inside, fundamentally influencing the planetary properties. The distribution of water in most exoplanets is determined by yet-unknown…
Remote sensing observations meet some limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our solar system. A remarkable example of the superiority of in situ probe measurements is illustrated by the…
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…
The exploration of carbon-to-oxygen ratios has yielded intriguing insights into the composition of close-in giant exoplanets, giving rise to a distinct classification: carbon-rich planets, characterized by a carbon-to-oxygen ratio $\ge$ 1…
We discuss the interior structure and composition of giant planets, and how this structure changes as these planets cool and contract over time. Here we define giant planets as those that have an observable hydrogen-helium envelope, which…
The connection between the atmospheric composition of giant planets and their origin remains elusive. In this study, we explore how convective mixing can link the primordial planetary state to its atmospheric composition. We simulate the…
Comparatively little is known about atmospheric chemistry on Uranus and Neptune, because remote spectral observations of these cold, distant ``Ice Giants'' are challenging, and each planet has only been visited by a single spacecraft during…
The composition of an atmosphere has integrated the geological history of the entire planetary body. However, the long-term evolutions of the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets are not well documented. For Earth, there were until…
The bulk composition of an exoplanet is commonly inferred from its average density. For small planets, however, the average density is not unique within the range of compositions. Variations of a number of important planetary…
This paper assesses the implications of a recent discovery (Jenkins 2009) that atomic oxygen is being depleted from diffuse interstellar gas at a rate that cannot be accounted for by its presence in silicate and metallic oxide particles. To…
Imaging and resolved spectroscopy reveal varying environmental conditions in our dynamic solar system. Many key advances have focused on how these conditions change over time. Observatory-level commitments to conduct annual observations of…
Uranus provides a unique laboratory to test our understanding of planetary atmospheres under extreme conditions. Multi-spectral observations from Voyager, ground-based observatories, and space telescopes have revealed a delicately banded…
Oxygen fugacity is a measure of rock oxidation that influences planetary structure and evolution. Most rocky bodies in the Solar System formed at oxygen fugacities approximately five orders of magnitude higher than a hydrogen-rich gas of…
Studying the global evolution of spiral galaxies requires determining their overall chemical compositions. However, since spirals tend to possess gradients in their chemical compositions, determining their overall chemical abundances poses…
The solar chemical composition is an important ingredient in our understanding of the formation, structure and evolution of both the Sun and our solar system. Furthermore, it is an essential reference standard against which the elemental…
Revealing the true nature of the gas giant planets in our Solar System is challenging. The masses of Jupiter and Saturn are about 318 and 95 Earth masses, respectively. While they mostly consist of hydrogen and helium, the total mass and…
Oxygen is the most abundant "metal" element in stars and in the cosmos. But determining oxygen abundances in stars has proven challenging, because of the shortage of detectable atomic oxygen lines in their optical spectra as well as…
Chemical compositions of giant planets provide a means to constrain how and where they form. Traditionally, super-stellar elemental abundances in giant planets were thought to be possible due to accretion of metal-rich solids. Such…
Exoplanetary science continues to excite and surprise with its rich diversity. We discuss here some key aspects potentially influencing the range of exoplanetary terrestrial-type atmospheres which could exist in nature. We are motivated by…