Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T22:27:56.093Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2010

T. Montmerle ,
D. Ehrenreich ,
A.-M. Lagrange  and
M. S. Marley
M. S. Marley*
Affiliation:
Mail Stop 245-3, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA
Get access

Abstract

The characteristics of irradiated solar system planetary atmospheres have been studied for decades. Modern planetary science benefits from an exhaustive body of ground- and space-based data. The study of extrasolar planetary atmospheres, by contrast, is in its infancy and currently rests on a few score of datapoints, mostly of the transiting planets. As the study of exoplanetary atmospheres blossoms, it is well worth remembering lessons learned from the solar system. In this contribution, based on my Les Houches lecture on exoplanet atmospheres, I briefly review a few of the key concepts relevant to understanding planetary atmospheres and point to examples both in our own solar system and among the exoplanets. This short survey aims not to review the field but rather stresses the importance of understanding the structure, dynamics, cloud processes and photochemistry of planetary atmospheres and points the reader towards useful reference works. Here I particularly explain the importance of cloud and photochemical processes in controlling the spectra and albedos of extrasolar planets and urge that care be taken in the interpretation of exoplanet colors.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Astronomical Society Publications Series , Volume 41: Physics and Astrophysics of Planetary Systems , 2010 , pp. 411 - 428
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barman, T.S., Hauschildt, P.H., & Allard, F., 2005, ApJ, 632, 1132 CrossRef
Bishop, J., Atreya, S.K., Romani, P.N., et al., 1995, Neptune and Triton, 427
Burrows, A., Hubbard, W.B., Lunine, J.I., & Liebert, J., 2001, Rev. Mod. Phys., 73, 719 CrossRef
Burrows, A., Sudarsky, D., & Hubeny, I., 2006, ApJ, 650, 1140 CrossRef
Burrows, A., Hubeny, I., Budaj, J., Knutson, H.A., & Charbonneau, D., 2007, ApJ, Lett., 668, L171 CrossRef
Burrows, A., Budaj, J., & Hubeny, I., 2008a, ApJ, 678, 1436 CrossRef
Burrows, A., Ibgui, L., & Hubeny, I., 2008b, ApJ, 682, 1277 CrossRef
Chamberlain, J., & Hunten, D., 1987, Theory of Planetary Atmospheres (Orlando: Academic Press)
Charbonneau, D., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 808, arXiv:0808.3007]
Conrath, B.J., Hanel, R.A., & Samuelson, R.E., 1989, Origin and Evolution of Planetary and Satellite Atmospheres, 513
Cowan, N.B., & Agol, E., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 806, arXiv:0806.4606]
Deming, D., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 808, arXiv:0808.1289]
Demory, B.-O., et al., 2007, Astron. & Astrophys., 475, 1125 CrossRef
Desert, J.-., Vidal-Madjar, A., Lecavelier des Etangs, A., et al., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 809, arXiv:0809.1865]
Fortney, J.J., Marley, M.S., & Barnes, J.W., 2007, ApJ, 659, 1661 CrossRef
Fortney, J.J., Lodders, K., Marley, M.S., & Freedman, R.S., 2008, ApJ, 678, 1419 CrossRef
Helling, Ch., et al., 2008, MNRAS, in press
Hubeny, I., Burrows, A., & Sudarsky, D., 2003, ApJ, 594, 1011 CrossRef
Ingersoll, A.P., & Porco, C.C., 1978, Icarus, 35, 27 CrossRef
Karkoschka, E., 1994, Icarus, 111, 174 CrossRef
Knutson, H.A., et al., 2007, Nature, 447, 183 CrossRef
Knutson, H.A., Charbonneau, D., Allen, L.E., Burrows, A., & Megeath, S.T., 2008, ApJ, 673, 526 CrossRef
Liang, M.-C., Seager, S., Parkinson, C.D., Lee, A.Y.-T., & Yung, Y.L., 2004, ApJ, 605, L61 CrossRef
Lodders, K., 2004, Science, 303, 323 CrossRef
Marley, M.S., 1998, Brown Dwarfs Extrasol. Planets, 134, 383
Marley, M.S., Fortney, J., Seager, S., & Barman, T., 2007, Protostars and Planets V, 733
Niemann, H.B., et al., 1998, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 22831 CrossRef
Pollack, J.B., Rages, K., Baines, K.H., et al., 1986, Icarus, 65, 442 CrossRef
Rowe, J.F., et al., 2007 [ArXiv e-prints, 711, arXiv:0711.4111]
Seager, S., Deming, D., & Valenti, J.A., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 808, arXiv:0808.1913]
Showman, A.P., Menou, K., & Y-K. Cho, J., 2007 [ArXiv e-prints, 710, arXiv:0710.2930]
Showman, A.P., Fortney, J.J., Lian, Y., et al., 2008 [ArXiv e-prints, 809, arXiv:0809.2089]
Traub, W.A., 2003, Scient. Front. Res. Extrasol. Planets, 294, 595
Troyer, J., Moses, J.I., Fegley, B., et al., 2007, Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., 38, 450
Wallace, L., 1976, Jupiter, 284
Wildey, R.L., 1976, The Observatory, 96, 235
Yung, Y.L., & Demore, W.B., 1999, Photochemistry of planetary atmospheres, ed. Yuk L. Yung, William B. DeMore (New York: Oxford University Press)
Zahnle, K., 2008, Nature, 454, 41 CrossRef