Exoplanet atmospheres

Abstract:

More than a thousand exoplanets have been discovered over the last decade. Perhaps more excitingly, probing their atmospheres has become possible. With current data we have glimpsed the diversity of exoplanet atmospheres that will be revealed over the coming decade. However, numerous questions concerning their chemical composition, thermal structure, and atmospheric dynamics remain to be answered. More observations of higher quality are needed. In the next years, the selection of a space-based mission dedicated to the spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets would revolutionize our understanding of the physics of planetary atmospheres. Such a mission was proposed to the ESA cosmic vision program in 2014. Our paper is therefore based on the planned capabilities of the Exoplanet Characterization Observatory (EChO), but it should equally apply to any future mission with similar characteristics. With its large spectral coverage ($4-16\, \rm{\mu m}$), high spectral resolution ($\Delta\lambda/\lambda>300$ below $5\,\rm{\mu m}$ and $\Delta\lambda/\lambda>30$ above $5\,\rm{\mu m}$) and $1.5\rm{m}$ mirror, a future mission such as EChO will provide spectrally resolved transit lightcurves, secondary eclipses lightcurves, and full phase curves of numerous exoplanets with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, we review some of today's main scientific questions about gas giant exoplanets atmospheres, for which a future mission such as EChO will bring a decisive contribution.

Abstract:

Rosetta, the Solar System cornerstone mission of ESA's Horizon 2000 programme, consists of an orbiter and a lander, and is due to arrive at the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014. Following its 2004 launch, Rosetta carried out a series of planetary fly-bys and gravitational assists. On these close fly-bys of the Earth, measurements were taken by the Visible Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS). Analysis of these spectra and comparison with spectra acquired by Earth-observing satellites can support the verification of the inflight calibration of Rosetta/VIRTIS. In this paper, measurements taken by VIRTIS in November 2009 are compared with suitable coincident data from Earth-observing instruments (ESA-ENVISAT/AATSR and SCIAMACHY, and EOS-TERRA/MODIS). Radiative transfer simulations using NEMESIS (Irwin et al.; 2008) are fit to the fly-by data taken by VIRTIS, using representative atmospheric and surface parameters. VIRTIS measurements correlate 90% with AATSR's, 85-94% with MODIS, and 82-88% with SCIAMACHYs. The VIRTIS spectra are reproducible in the 1-5 μm region, except in the 1.4 μm deep water vapour spectral absorption band in the near-infrared in cases in which the radiance is very low (cloud-free topographies), where VIRTIS consistently registers more radiance than do MODIS and SCIAMACHY. Over these cloud-free regions, VIRTIS registers radiances a factor of 3-10 larger than SCIAMACHY and of 3-8 greater than MODIS. It is speculated that this discrepancy could be due to a spectral light leak originating from reflections from the order-sorting filters above the detector around 1.4 μm. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract:

New line data describing the absorption of CH4 and CH3D from 1.26 to 1.71μm (WKMC-80K, Campargue, A., Wang, L., Mondelain, D., Kassi, S., Bézard, B., Lellouch, E., Coustenis, A., de Bergh, C., Hirtzig, M., Drossart, P. [2012]. Icarus 219, 110-128) have been applied to the analysis of Gemini-N/NIFS observations of Neptune made in 2009 and VLT/CRIRES observations made in 2010. The new line data are found to greatly improve the fit to the observed spectra and present a considerable advance over previous methane datasets. The improved fits lead to an empirically derived wavelength-dependent correction to the scattering properties of the main observable cloud deck at 2-3bars that is very similar to the correction determined for Uranus' lower cloud using the same line dataset by Irwin et al. (Irwin, P.G.J., de Bergh, C., Courtin, R., Bézard, B., Teanby, N.A., Davis, G.R., Fletcher, L.N., Orton, G.S., Calcutt, S.B., Tice, D., Hurley, J. [2012]. Icarus 220, 369-382). By varying the abundance of CH3D in our simulations, analysis of the Gemini/NIFS observations leads to a new determination of the CH3D/CH4 ratio for Neptune of 3.0-0.9+1.0×10-4, which is smaller than previous determinations, but is identical (to within error) with the CH3D/CH4 ratio of 2.9-0.5+0.9×10-4 derived by a similar analysis of Gemini/NIFS observations of Uranus made in the same year. Thus it appears that the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune have an almost identical D/H ratio, which suggests that the icy planetisimals forming these planets came from the same source reservoir, or a reservoir that was well-mixed at the locations of ice giant formation, assuming complete mixing between the atmosphere and interior of both these planets. VLT/CRIRES observations of Neptune have also been analysed with the WKMC-80K methane line database, yielding very good fits, with little evidence for missing absorption features. The CRIRES spectra indicate that the mole fraction of CO at the 2-3bar level must be substantially less than its estimated stratospheric value of 1×10-6, which suggests that the predominant source of CO in Neptune's atmosphere is external, through the influx of micrometeorites and comets, although these data cannot rule out an additional internal source. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.