Hubble Observations of a Super-Earth Atmosphere

Details Hubble Observations of a Super-Earth Atmosphere Hubble Observations of a Super-Earth Atmosphere

Sep 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011ess.....2.1103b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, ESS meeting #2, #11.03

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Scientific paper

I will present new Hubble Space Telescope observations of the atmosphere of the enigmatic super-Earth GJ1214b. According to theoretical models, GJ1214b's low density requires it has either an H-rich outer envelope or a bulk composition with a large water-to-rock ratio. Because GJ1214b transits a very small M dwarf, these possibilities can be distinguished observationally using transmission spectroscopy, which probes the scale height (and thus H-content) of the planet's atmosphere. Using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)'s grism mode, we are measuring GJ1214b's transmission spectrum between 1.1 and 1.7 microns, where models predict absorption features due to water vapor to be strongest. Other observations of GJ1214b's atmosphere have been made, but are seemingly contradictory and difficult to interpret, in part because they do not probe this important wavelength range. Two of our three HST visits have already been completed; the data are of superb quality and will provide a robust test of the nature of GJ1214b's outer envelope. Our final HST visit is scheduled for 17 July 2011, so the results will presented for the first time at the Jackson Hole meeting. I am a member of the team that discovered GJ1214b and the principal investigator of the HST/WFC3 observations.

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