Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008sptz.prop60021k&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #60021
Physics
Scientific paper
Spitzer's two-year warm mission represents a unique opportunity to build on its already-substantial legacy in the area of exoplanetary science with a comprehensive set of observations that would directly address fundamental questions about the physical processes that shape exoplanet atmospheres. In our proposal we outline an exciting two-pronged approach that would combine a survey of the secondary eclipses for all of the known transiting planets not already observed during the cryogenic mission with a set of phase curve observations targeting five of the most interesting objects. The first part of our study would more than double the number of systems with secondary eclipse observations and provide the statistical leverage needed to characterize the nature of the high-altitude absorber responsible for the presence of temperature inversions in the atmospheres of HD 209458b, TrES-2, TrES-4, and XO-1b. Secondary eclipse observations alone are not enough, however, as we expect the properties of these tidally-locked planets may vary substantially between the permanent day and night sides. Phase curve observations of select systems at several wavelengths allow us to map out longitudinal variations in the pressure-temperature profiles, chemistry, clouds, and circulation patterns of these highly-irradiated atmospheres, and such spatially resolved information will be absolutely critical in interpreting the results of the broader, low-resolution survey. Comparisons between the two benchmark systems HD 209458b and HD 189733b as well as a carefully-selected set of additional planets will allow us to investigate the importance of irradiation, rotation rate, surface gravity, eccentricity, and stellar metallicity in determining the pressure-temperature structure and dynamic meteorology of these atmospheres. We are requesting a total of 1138 hours for these observations.
Agol Eric
Burrows Adam
Charbonneau David
Cowan Nicolas
Deming Drake
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