Related papers: Toward Eclipse Mapping of Hot Jupiters
Mapping exoplanets across phases and during secondary eclipse is a powerful technique for characterizing Hot Jupiters in emission. Since these planets are expected to rotate about axes normal to their orbital planes, with rotation periods…
Observations and models of transiting hot Jupiter exoplanets indicate that atmospheric circulation features may cause large spatial flux contrasts across their daysides. Previous studies have mapped these spatial flux variations through…
We present eclipse maps of the two-dimensional thermal emission from the dayside of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b, derived from an observation of a phase curve with the JWST MIRI/LRS instrument. The observed eclipse shapes deviate significantly…
Previous generation of instruments have the opportunity to discover thousands of extra-solar planets and more will come with the current and future planet-search missions. In order to go one step further in the characterization of…
Only one exoplanet has so far been mapped in both longitude and latitude, but the James Webb Space Telescope should provide mapping-quality data for dozens of exoplanets. The thermal phase mapping problem has previously been solved…
The field of exoplanet atmospheric characterization is trending towards comparative studies involving many planetary systems, and using Bayesian hierarchical modelling is a natural next step. Here we demonstrate two use cases. We first use…
High precision lightcurves combined with eclipse mapping techniques can reveal the horizontal and vertical structure of a planet's thermal emission and the dynamics of hot Jupiters. Someday, they even may reveal the surface maps of rocky…
We present near infrared high-precision photometry for eight transiting hot Jupiters observed during their predicted secondary eclipses. Our observations were carried out using the staring mode of the WIRCam instrument on the…
Precision infrared photometry from Spitzer has enabled the first direct studies of light from extrasolar planets, via observations at secondary eclipse in transiting systems. Current Spitzer results include the first longitudinal…
Observations of extrasolar planets were not projected to be a significant part of the Spitzer Space Telescope's mission when it was conceived and designed. Nevertheless, Spitzer was the first facility to detect thermal emission from a hot…
We study the emergent spectral fluxes of transiting hot Jupiters, using secondary eclipses from Spitzer. To achieve a large and uniform sample, we have re-analyzed all secondary eclipses for all hot Jupiters observed by Spitzer at 3.6-…
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…
We report secondary eclipse photometry of the hot Jupiter XO-3b in the 4.5~$\mu$m band taken with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. We measure individual eclipse depths and center of eclipse times for a total…
In the last decade, ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy (HRS) has emerged as a powerful method to probe exoplanet atmospheres both in transit and thermal emission. With HRS science now maturing to reveal these planet's thermal,…
We analyze all existing secondary eclipse time series spectroscopy of hot Jupiter HD189733b acquired with the now defunct Spitzer/IRS instrument. We describe the novel approaches we develop to remove the systematic effects and extract…
This dissertation as a whole aims to provide means to better understand hot-Jupiter planets through observing, performing thermochemical calculations, and modeling their atmospheres. We used Spitzer multi-wavelength secondary-eclipse…
High-precision exoplanet eclipse light curves, like those possible with JWST, enable flux and temperature mapping of exoplanet atmospheres. These eclipse maps will have unprecedented precision, providing an opportunity to constrain current…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will measure exoplanet transmission and eclipse spectroscopy at un-precedented precisions to better understand planet structure, dynamics, chemistry and formation. These are essential tools on the march…
Recent Spitzer infrared (IR) observations of two transiting hot Jupiters during their secondary eclipses have provided the first direct detection of planets orbiting other stars (Charbonneau et al. 2005; Deming et al. 2005). We here…
Exoplanet orbital eccentricities offer valuable clues about the history of planetary systems. Eccentric, Jupiter-sized planets are particularly interesting: they may link the "cold" Jupiters beyond the ice line to close-in hot Jupiters,…