Related papers: Deciphering transmission spectra by exploring the …
Long-term measurements (1972-2015) of the reflectivity of Uranus at 472 and 551 nm display variability that is incompletely explained by seasonal effects. Spectral analysis shows this non-seasonal variability tracks the 11-year solar cycle.…
We aim to gain insight into the effect of network and faculae on solar irradiance from their apparent intensity. Taking full-disc observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we examined the intensity contrast of network and faculae in…
Transmission spectroscopy is a key avenue for the near-term study of small-planet atmospheres and the most promising method when it comes to searching for atmospheres on temperate rocky worlds, which are often too cold for planetary…
We explore the transmission spectrum of the Neptune-class exoplanet GJ 436b, including the possibility that its atmospheric opacity is dominated by a variety of non- equilibrium chemical products. We also validate our transmission code by…
The light scattered by an extrasolar Earth-like planet's surface and atmosphere will vary in intensity and color as the planet rotates; the resulting light curve will contain information about the planet's properties. Since most of the…
During primary transits, the spectral signatures of an exoplanet atmosphere can be measured using transmission spectroscopy. The goal of this work is to accurately measure the atomspheric sodium absorption light curve in HD189733b,…
Lightcurves have long been used to study stellar activity and have more recently become a major tool in the field of exoplanet research. We discuss the various ways in which stellar activity can influence transit lightcurves, and study the…
To obtain cm/s precision, stellar surface magneto-convection must be disentangled from observed radial velocities (RVs). In order to understand and remove the convective signature, we create Sun-as-a-star model observations based on a 3D…
Transmission spectroscopy can be used to constrain the properties of exoplanetary atmospheres. During a transit, the light blocked from the atmosphere of the planet leaves an imprint in the light coming from the star. This has been shown…
The super-Earth LHS 1140 b is an interesting target for atmospheric observations since it is close to the habitable zone of its star and falls in the gap of the radius distribution of small exoplanets, in the region thought to correspond to…
Gravitational lensing of invisible streaming matter towards the Sun could be the explanation of the puzzling solar flares and the unexplained solar emission in the EUV. Assuming that this invisible matter has some form of interaction with…
From an observational standpoint, stellar activity poses a critical challenge to exoplanet science, as it inhibits the detection of planets and the precise measurement of their parameters. Radial velocity and transit searches revealed a…
The latitudinal distribution of starspots deviates from the solar pattern with increasing rotation rate. Numerical simulations of magnetic flux emergence and transport can help model the observed stellar activity patterns and the associated…
X-ray through infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are essential for understanding a star's effect on exoplanet atmospheric composition and evolution. We present a catalog of panchromatic SEDs, hosted on the Barbara A. Mikulski…
The light curves of old G-dwarfs obtained in the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges are highly irregular. This significantly complicates the detectability of the rotation periods of stars similar to the Sun in large photometric…
Transmission spectroscopy is a key technique in the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres and has been widely applied to planets undergoing hydrodynamic escape. While a robust analytic theory exists for transmission spectra of…
Transmission spectroscopy allows us to detect molecules in planetary atmospheres, but is subject to contamination from inhomogeneities on the stellar surface. Quantifying the extent of this contamination is essential for accurate…
Recent observations revealed that several extremely low-density exoplanets show featureless transmission spectra. While atmospheric aerosols are a promising explanation for both the low density and featureless spectra, there is another…
One of the great quests of astronomy is to obtain the spectrum of a terrestrial planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its star, and the dominant challenge in doing so is to isolate the light of the planet from that of the star.…
Magnetic activity changes the gravito-acoustic modes of solar-like stars and in particular their frequencies. There is an angular-degree dependence that is believed to be caused by the non-spherical nature of the magnetic activity in the…