Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21421003k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #210.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.715
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
In the past 4 years, the combination of ground-based transit surveys and the remarkable stability of the Spitzer Space Telescope permitted the direct investigation of the atmospheres of one specific class of exoplanet, namely the Hot Jupiters. The NASA Kepler mission (scheduled for launch early this year) will have the ability to discover dozens of transiting exoplanets that are not currently detectable from the ground, including large numbers of transiting hot Neptune and hot Super-Earth exoplanets, as well as cooler Jupiters. Our Exploration Science program will measure the two-color planetary emission for 20 representative members of these previously inaccessible exoplanets, providing the first opportunity to directly test theoretical models of exoplanetary atmospheres of varying compositions (notably Super-Earths and Neptunes) and under differing levels of irradiation (cooler Jovian companions). The same data will permit an estimate of the orbital eccentricities, thus providing a test of models of the orbital migration and tidal dissipation for these various types of exoplanets. We will also use Spitzer to follow up Kepler-identified candidate terrestrial exoplanets to prove that these signals are indeed planetary in origin. By gathering single color time series spanning times of primary transit, we will exclude a significant source of astrophysical false positives (resulting from blends of triple star systems containing an eclipsing binary) that can precisely mimic an exoplanetary signature in the Kepler data. These infrared data will provide a crucial confirmation of the planetary nature of the most exciting terrestrial-planet candidates.
Charbonneau David
Knutson Heather
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