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Your search keyword '"Molaverdikhani, Karan"' showing total 8 results
Start Over Author "Molaverdikhani, Karan" Publisher escholarship, university of california
8 results on '"Molaverdikhani, Karan"'

1. Inhomogeneous terminators on the exoplanet WASP-39 b.

Author

Espinoza, Néstor, Steinrueck, Maria, Kirk, James, MacDonald, Ryan, Savel, Arjun, Arnold, Kenneth, Kempton, Eliza, Murphy, Matthew, Carone, Ludmila, Zamyatina, Maria, Lewis, David, Samra, Dominic, Kiefer, Sven, Rauscher, Emily, Christie, Duncan, Mayne, Nathan, Helling, Christiane, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Parmentier, Vivien, May, Erin, Carter, Aarynn, Zhang, Xi, López-Morales, Mercedes, Allen, Natalie, Blecic, Jasmina, Decin, Leen, Mancini, Luigi, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Rackham, Benjamin, Palle, Enric, Tsai, Shang-Min, Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Bean, Jacob, Crossfield, Ian, Haegele, David, Hébrard, Eric, Kreidberg, Laura, Powell, Diana, Schneider, Aaron, Welbanks, Luis, Wheatley, Peter, Brahm, Rafael, and Crouzet, Nicolas

Abstract

Transmission spectroscopy has been a workhorse technique used over the past two decades to constrain the physical and chemical properties of exoplanet atmospheres1-5. One of its classical key assumptions is that the portion of the atmosphere it probes-the terminator region-is homogeneous. Several works from the past decade, however, have put this into question for highly irradiated, hot (Teq ≳ 1,000 K) gas giant exoplanets, both empirically6-10 and through three-dimensional modelling11-17. While models have predicted clear differences between the evening (day-to-night) and morning (night-to-day) terminators, direct morning and evening transmission spectra in a wide wavelength range have not been reported for an exoplanet so far. Under the assumption of precise and accurate orbital parameters for the exoplanet WASP-39 b, here we report the detection of inhomogeneous terminators on WASP-39 b, which has allowed us to retrieve its morning and evening transmission spectra in the near-infrared (2-5 μm) using the James Webb Space Telescope. We have observed larger transit depths in the evening, which are, on average, 405 ± 88 ppm larger than the morning ones, and also have qualitatively larger features than the morning spectrum. The spectra are best explained by models in which the evening terminator is hotter than the morning terminator by 17 7 - 57 + 65  K, with both terminators having C/O ratios consistent with solar. General circulation models predict temperature differences broadly consistent with the above value and point towards a cloudy morning terminator and a clearer evening terminator.

Published
2024

2. Sulfur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b.

Author

Taylor, Jake, Kirk, James, Bell, Taylor, Barstow, Joanna, Gao, Peter, Bean, Jacob, Blecic, Jasmina, Chubb, Katy, Crossfield, Ian, Jordan, Sean, Kitzmann, Daniel, Moran, Sarah, Morello, Giuseppe, Moses, Julianne, Welbanks, Luis, Yang, Jeehyun, Zhang, Xi, Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Bello-Arufe, Aaron, Brande, Jonathan, Casewell, S, Crouzet, Nicolas, Cubillos, Patricio, Demory, Brice-Olivier, Dyrek, Achrène, Flagg, Laura, Hu, Renyu, Inglis, Julie, Jones, Kathryn, Kreidberg, Laura, López-Morales, Mercedes, Lagage, Pierre-Olivier, Meier Valdés, Erik, Miguel, Yamila, Parmentier, Vivien, Piette, Anjali, Rackham, Benjamin, Radica, Michael, Redfield, Seth, Stevenson, Kevin, Wakeford, Hannah, Aggarwal, Keshav, Alam, Munazza, Batalha, Natalie, Batalha, Natasha, Benneke, Björn, Berta-Thompson, Zach, Brady, Ryan, Caceres, Claudio, Carter, Aarynn, Désert, Jean-Michel, Harrington, Joseph, Iro, Nicolas, Line, Michael, Lothringer, Joshua, MacDonald, Ryan, Mancini, Luigi, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Mukherjee, Sagnick, Nixon, Matthew, Oza, Apurva, Palle, Enric, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Sing, David, Steinrueck, Maria, Venot, Olivia, Wheatley, Peter, Yurchenko, Sergei, Powell, Diana, Feinstein, Adina, Lee, Elspeth, Zhang, Michael, and Tsai, Shang-Min

Abstract

The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations1-3 suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (

Published
2024

3. A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b.

Author

Coulombe, Louis-Philippe, Benneke, Björn, Challener, Ryan, Piette, Anjali, Wiser, Lindsey, Mansfield, Megan, MacDonald, Ryan, Beltz, Hayley, Feinstein, Adina, Radica, Michael, Savel, Arjun, Dos Santos, Leonardo, Bean, Jacob, Parmentier, Vivien, Wong, Ian, Rauscher, Emily, Komacek, Thaddeus, Kempton, Eliza, Tan, Xianyu, Hammond, Mark, Lewis, Neil, Line, Michael, Lee, Elspeth, Shivkumar, Hinna, Crossfield, Ian, Nixon, Matthew, Rackham, Benjamin, Wakeford, Hannah, Welbanks, Luis, Zhang, Xi, Batalha, Natalie, Berta-Thompson, Zachory, Changeat, Quentin, Désert, Jean-Michel, Espinoza, Néstor, Goyal, Jayesh, Harrington, Joseph, Knutson, Heather, Kreidberg, Laura, López-Morales, Mercedes, Shporer, Avi, Sing, David, Stevenson, Kevin, Aggarwal, Keshav, Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Alam, Munazza, Bell, Taylor, Blecic, Jasmina, Caceres, Claudio, Carter, Aarynn, Casewell, Sarah, Crouzet, Nicolas, Cubillos, Patricio, Decin, Leen, Fortney, Jonathan, Gibson, Neale, Heng, Kevin, Henning, Thomas, Iro, Nicolas, Kendrew, Sarah, Lagage, Pierre-Olivier, Leconte, Jérémy, Lendl, Monika, Lothringer, Joshua, Mancini, Luigi, Mikal-Evans, Thomas, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Nikolov, Nikolay, Ohno, Kazumasa, Palle, Enric, Piaulet, Caroline, Redfield, Seth, Roy, Pierre-Alexis, Tsai, Shang-Min, Venot, Olivia, and Wheatley, Peter

Abstract

Close-in giant exoplanets with temperatures greater than 2,000 K (ultra-hot Jupiters) have been the subject of extensive efforts to determine their atmospheric properties using thermal emission measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer Space Telescope1-3. However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results because the small sizes of the spectral features and the limited information content of the data resulted in high sensitivity to the varying assumptions made in the treatment of instrument systematics and the atmospheric retrieval analysis3-12. Here we present a dayside thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b obtained with the NIRISS13 instrument on the JWST. The data span 0.85 to 2.85 μm in wavelength at an average resolving power of 400 and exhibit minimal systematics. The spectrum shows three water emission features (at >6σ confidence) and evidence for optical opacity, possibly attributable to H-, TiO and VO (combined significance of 3.8σ). Models that fit the data require a thermal inversion, molecular dissociation as predicted by chemical equilibrium, a solar heavy-element abundance (metallicity, [Formula: see text] times solar) and a carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio less than unity. The data also yield a dayside brightness temperature map, which shows a peak in temperature near the substellar point that decreases steeply and symmetrically with longitude towards the terminators.

Published
2023

4. Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b.

Author

Tsai, Shang-Min, Lee, Elspeth, Powell, Diana, Gao, Peter, Zhang, Xi, Moses, Julianne, Hébrard, Eric, Venot, Olivia, Parmentier, Vivien, Jordan, Sean, Hu, Renyu, Alam, Munazza, Alderson, Lili, Batalha, Natalie, Bean, Jacob, Benneke, Björn, Bierson, Carver, Brady, Ryan, Carone, Ludmila, Carter, Aarynn, Chubb, Katy, Inglis, Julie, Leconte, Jérémy, Line, Michael, López-Morales, Mercedes, Miguel, Yamila, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Sing, David, Stevenson, Kevin, Wakeford, Hannah, Yang, Jeehyun, Aggarwal, Keshav, Baeyens, Robin, Barat, Saugata, de Val-Borro, Miguel, Daylan, Tansu, Fortney, Jonathan, France, Kevin, Goyal, Jayesh, Grant, David, Kirk, James, Kreidberg, Laura, Louca, Amy, Moran, Sarah, Mukherjee, Sagnick, Nasedkin, Evert, Ohno, Kazumasa, Rackham, Benjamin, Redfield, Seth, Taylor, Jake, Tremblin, Pascal, Visscher, Channon, Wallack, Nicole, Welbanks, Luis, Youngblood, Allison, Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Batalha, Natasha, Behr, Patrick, Berta-Thompson, Zachory, Blecic, Jasmina, Casewell, S, Crossfield, Ian, Crouzet, Nicolas, Cubillos, Patricio, Decin, Leen, Désert, Jean-Michel, Feinstein, Adina, Gibson, Neale, Harrington, Joseph, Heng, Kevin, Henning, Thomas, Kempton, Eliza, Krick, Jessica, Lagage, Pierre-Olivier, Lendl, Monika, Lothringer, Joshua, Mansfield, Megan, Mayne, N, Mikal-Evans, Thomas, Palle, Enric, Schlawin, Everett, Shorttle, Oliver, Wheatley, Peter, and Yurchenko, Sergei

Abstract

Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.

Published
2023

5. Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere

Author

Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Alderson, Lili, Batalha, Natalie M, Batalha, Natasha E, Bean, Jacob L, Beatty, Thomas G, Bell, Taylor J, Benneke, Bjorn, Berta-Thompson, Zachory K, Carter, Aarynn L, Crossfield, Ian JM, Espinoza, Nestor, Feinstein, Adina D, Fortney, Jonathan J, Gibson, Neale P, Goyal, Jayesh M, Kempton, Eliza M-R, Kirk, James, Kreidberg, Laura, Lopez-Morales, Mercedes, Line, Michael R, Lothringer, Joshua D, Moran, Sarah E, Mukherjee, Sagnick, Ohno, Kazumasa, Parmentier, Vivien, Piaulet, Caroline, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Schlawin, Everett, Sing, David K, Stevenson, Kevin B, Wakeford, Hannah R, Allen, Natalie H, Birkmann, Stephan M, Brande, Jonathan, Crouzet, Nicolas, Cubillos, Patricio E, Damiano, Mario, Desert, Jean-Michel, Gao, Peter, Harrington, Joseph, Hu, Renyu, Kendrew, Sarah, Knutson, Heather A, Lagage, Pierre-Olivier, Leconte, Jeremy, Lendl, Monika, MacDonald, Ryan J, May, EM, Miguel, Yamila, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Moses, Julianne I, Murray, Catriona Anne, Nehring, Molly, Nikolov, Nikolay K, de la Roche, DJM Petit Dit, Radica, Michael, Roy, Pierre-Alexis, Stassun, Keivan G, Taylor, Jake, Waalkes, William C, Wachiraphan, Patcharapol, Welbanks, Luis, Wheatley, Peter J, Aggarwal, Keshav, Alam, Munazza K, Banerjee, Agnibha, Barstow, Joanna K, Blecic, Jasmina, Casewell, SL, Changeat, Quentin, Chubb, KL, Colon, Knicole D, Coulombe, Louis-Philippe, Daylan, Tansu, De Val-Borro, Miguel, Decin, Leen, Dos Santos, Leonardo A, Flagg, Laura, France, Kevin, Fu, Guangwei, Munoz, A Garcia, Gizis, John E, Glidden, Ana, Grant, David, Heng, Kevin, Henning, Thomas, Hong, Yu-Cian, Inglis, Julie, Iro, Nicolas, Kataria, Tiffany, Komacek, Thaddeus D, Krick, Jessica E, Lee, Elspeth KH, Lewis, Nikole K, Lillo-Box, Jorge, Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob, Mancini, Luigi, Mandell, Avi M, and Mansfield, Megan

Subjects
JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called 'metallicity')1-3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants4-6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets7-9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification10-12. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0-5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative-convective-thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.

Published
2023

6. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam.

Author

Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Stevenson, Kevin, Mansfield, Megan, Moran, Sarah, Brande, Jonathan, Morello, Giuseppe, Murray, Catriona, Nikolov, Nikolay, Petit Dit de la Roche, Dominique, Schlawin, Everett, Wheatley, Peter, Zieba, Sebastian, Batalha, Natasha, Damiano, Mario, Goyal, Jayesh, Lendl, Monika, Lothringer, Joshua, Mukherjee, Sagnick, Ohno, Kazumasa, Batalha, Natalie, Battley, Matthew, Bean, Jacob, Beatty, Thomas, Benneke, Björn, Berta-Thompson, Zachory, Carter, Aarynn, Cubillos, Patricio, Daylan, Tansu, Espinoza, Néstor, Gao, Peter, Gibson, Neale, Gill, Samuel, Harrington, Joseph, Hu, Renyu, Kreidberg, Laura, Lewis, Nikole, Line, Michael, López-Morales, Mercedes, Parmentier, Vivien, Powell, Diana, Sing, David, Wakeford, Hannah, Welbanks, Luis, Alam, Munazza, Alderson, Lili, Allen, Natalie, Anderson, David, Barstow, Joanna, Bayliss, Daniel, Bell, Taylor, Blecic, Jasmina, Bryant, Edward, Burleigh, Matthew, Carone, Ludmila, Casewell, S, Changeat, Quentin, Chubb, Katy, Crossfield, Ian, Crouzet, Nicolas, Decin, Leen, Désert, Jean-Michel, Feinstein, Adina, Flagg, Laura, Fortney, Jonathan, Gizis, John, Heng, Kevin, Iro, Nicolas, Kempton, Eliza, Kendrew, Sarah, Kirk, James, Knutson, Heather, Komacek, Thaddeus, Lagage, Pierre-Olivier, Leconte, Jérémy, Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob, MacDonald, Ryan, Mancini, Luigi, May, E, Mayne, N, Miguel, Yamila, Mikal-Evans, Thomas, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Palle, Enric, Piaulet, Caroline, Rackham, Benjamin, Redfield, Seth, Rogers, Laura, Roy, Pierre-Alexis, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Shkolnik, Evgenya, Sotzen, Kristin, Taylor, Jake, Tremblin, P, Tucker, Gregory, Turner, Jake, de Val-Borro, Miguel, Venot, Olivia, Zhang, Xi, and Tsai, Shang-Min

Abstract

Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories. Transmission spectroscopy (for example, refs. 1,2) provides the necessary means by constraining the abundances of oxygen- and carbon-bearing species; however, this requires broad wavelength coverage, moderate spectral resolution and high precision, which, together, are not achievable with previous observatories. Now that JWST has commenced science operations, we are able to observe exoplanets at previously uncharted wavelengths and spectral resolutions. Here we report time-series observations of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b using JWSTs Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). The long-wavelength spectroscopic and short-wavelength photometric light curves span 2.0-4.0 micrometres, exhibit minimal systematics and reveal well defined molecular absorption features in the planets spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous water in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of methane. The otherwise prominent carbon dioxide feature at 2.8 micrometres is largely masked by water. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1-100-times solar (that is, an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a substellar C/O ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation (for example, refs. 3,4,) or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere (for example, refs. 5,6).

Published
2023

7. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H.

Author

Alderson, Lili, Wakeford, Hannah, Alam, Munazza, Batalha, Natasha, Lothringer, Joshua, Adams Redai, Jea, Barat, Saugata, Brande, Jonathan, Damiano, Mario, Daylan, Tansu, Espinoza, Néstor, Flagg, Laura, Goyal, Jayesh, Grant, David, Hu, Renyu, Inglis, Julie, Lee, Elspeth, Mikal-Evans, Thomas, Ramos-Rosado, Lakeisha, Roy, Pierre-Alexis, Wallack, Nicole, Batalha, Natalie, Bean, Jacob, Benneke, Björn, Berta-Thompson, Zachory, Carter, Aarynn, Changeat, Quentin, Colón, Knicole, Crossfield, Ian, Désert, Jean-Michel, Foreman-Mackey, Daniel, Gibson, Neale, Kreidberg, Laura, Line, Michael, López-Morales, Mercedes, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Moran, Sarah, Morello, Giuseppe, Moses, Julianne, Mukherjee, Sagnick, Schlawin, Everett, Sing, David, Stevenson, Kevin, Taylor, Jake, Aggarwal, Keshav, Ahrer, Eva-Maria, Allen, Natalie, Barstow, Joanna, Bell, Taylor, Blecic, Jasmina, Casewell, Sarah, Chubb, Katy, Crouzet, Nicolas, Cubillos, Patricio, Decin, Leen, Feinstein, Adina, Fortney, Joanthan, Harrington, Joseph, Heng, Kevin, Iro, Nicolas, Kempton, Eliza, Kirk, James, Knutson, Heather, Krick, Jessica, Leconte, Jérémy, Lendl, Monika, MacDonald, Ryan, Mancini, Luigi, Mansfield, Megan, May, Erin, Mayne, Nathan, Miguel, Yamila, Nikolov, Nikolay, Ohno, Kazumasa, Palle, Enric, Parmentier, Vivien, Petit Dit de la Roche, Dominique, Piaulet, Caroline, Powell, Diana, Rackham, Benjamin, Redfield, Seth, Rogers, Laura, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Tan, Xianyu, Tremblin, P, Turner, Jake, de Val-Borro, Miguel, Venot, Olivia, Welbanks, Luis, Wheatley, Peter, Zhang, Xi, and Tsai, Shang-Min

Abstract

Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3-5 and high-resolution ground-based6-8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.

Published
2023

8. The Need for Laboratory Measurements and Ab Initio Studies to Aid Understanding of Exoplanetary Atmospheres

Author

Fortney, Jonathan J, Robinson, Tyler D, Domagal-Goldman, Shawn, Genio, Anthony D Del, Gordon, Iouli E, Gharib-Nezhad, Ehsan, Lewis, Nikole, Sousa-Silva, Clara, Airapetian, Vladimir, Drouin, Brian, Hargreaves, Robert J, Huang, Xinchuan, Karman, Tijs, Ramirez, Ramses M, Rieker, Gregory B, Tennyson, Jonathan, Wordsworth, Robin, Yurchenko, Sergei N, Johnson, Alexandria V, Lee, Timothy J, Dong, Chuanfei, Kane, Stephen, Lopez-Morales, Mercedes, Fauchez, Thomas, Lee, Timothy, Marley, Mark S, Sung, Keeyoon, Haghighipour, Nader, Robinson, Tyler, Horst, Sarah, Gao, Peter, Kao, Der-you, Dressing, Courtney, Lupu, Roxana, Savin, Daniel Wolf, Fleury, Benjamin, Venot, Olivia, Ascenzi, Daniela, Milam, Stefanie, Linnartz, Harold, Gudipati, Murthy, Gronoff, Guillaume, Salama, Farid, Gavilan, Lisseth, Bouwman, Jordy, Turbet, Martin, Benilan, Yves, Henderson, Bryana, Batalha, Natalie, Jensen-Clem, Rebecca, Lyons, Timothy, Freedman, Richard, Schwieterman, Edward, Goyal, Jayesh, Mancini, Luigi, Irwin, Patrick, Desert, Jean-Michel, Molaverdikhani, Karan, Gizis, John, Taylor, Jake, Lothringer, Joshua, Pierrehumbert, Raymond, Zellem, Robert, Batalha, Natasha, Rugheimer, Sarah, Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob, Hu, Renyu, Kempton, Eliza, Arney, Giada, Line, Mike, Alam, Munazza, Moses, Julianne, Iro, Nicolas, Kreidberg, Laura, Blecic, Jasmina, Louden, Tom, Molliere, Paul, Stevenson, Kevin, Swain, Mark, Bott, Kimberly, Madhusudhan, Nikku, Krissansen-Totton, Joshua, Deming, Drake, Kitiashvili, Irina, Shkolnik, Evgenya, Rustamkulov, Zafar, Rogers, Leslie, and Close, Laird

Subjects
astro-ph.EP
Abstract

We are now on a clear trajectory for improvements in exoplanet observationsthat will revolutionize our ability to characterize their atmosphericstructure, composition, and circulation, from gas giants to rocky planets.However, exoplanet atmospheric models capable of interpreting the upcomingobservations are often limited by insufficiencies in the laboratory andtheoretical data that serve as critical inputs to atmospheric physical andchemical tools. Here we provide an up-to-date and condensed description ofareas where laboratory and/or ab initio investigations could fill critical gapsin our ability to model exoplanet atmospheric opacities, clouds, and chemistry,building off a larger 2016 white paper, and endorsed by the NAS ExoplanetScience Strategy report. Now is the ideal time for progress in these areas, butthis progress requires better access to, understanding of, and training in theproduction of spectroscopic data as well as a better insight into chemicalreaction kinetics both thermal and radiation-induced at a broad range oftemperatures. Given that most published efforts have emphasized relativelyEarth-like conditions, we can expect significant and enlightening discoveriesas emphasis moves to the exotic atmospheres of exoplanets.

Published
2019

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