Statistics – Computation
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.6209m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #62.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1091
Statistics
Computation
Scientific paper
We present a comparative analysis of atmospheric chemical abundances of several transiting extrasolar planets, as inferred from observations with HST, Spitzer, and ground-based facilities. We used a bayesian exoplanet atmosphere retrieval method to determine statistical limits on the chemical compositions as required by the data. Our method facilitates calculating error contours in the space of chemical composition, the 1-D averaged temperature structure, and the day-night energy redistribution in the planetary atmosphere, given photometric and/or spectroscopic observations. The statistical treatment involves large-scale computation of millions of 1D atmospheric models spanning the large model parameter space. We report constraints on the elemental and molecular abundances of transiting exoplanets over a wide range in atmospheric properties, with temperatures ranging from 750 K to over 3000 K, and sizes ranging from hot Neptunes to the largest of hot-Jupiters. We present limits on equilibrium and non-equilibrium chemistry imposed by the observed atmospheric chemical compositions. We show that some of the systems in our sample, including GJ 436b, show distinct deviations from atmospheric chemistry based on thermochemical equilibrium and solar abundances, and have important consequences for planetary formation and evolution. On the other hand, some observations are much less constraining and can be explained by equilibrium chemistry with solar abundances, for a wide range of temperature structures. We discuss future observations that might be able to constrain the latter systems. Spitzer is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA, which provided support for this work.
Madhusudhan Nikku
UCF Exoplanet Team
Wasp Consortium
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