Mathematics – Probability
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011sptz.prop80073k&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #80073
Mathematics
Probability
Scientific paper
Studies of extrasolar planets have been moving at an ever-accelerating pace, with more than one hundred known transiting planet systems and hundreds of new planet candidates from missions such as Kepler and CoRoT waiting in the wings. Ongoing efforts with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, as well as from the ground, have allowed us to characterize the atmospheres of these planets in unprecedented detail and have revealed a surprisingly diverse array of atmosphere properties. We propose to address some of the most hotly debated questions in the field using a subset of bright, recently discovered transiting planet systems, which provide the most optimal targets for detailed characterization. These questions include: What is the mechanism responsible for maintaining the large day-night temperature gradients observed for some tidally locked hot Jupiters? Are MHD effects such as Lorentz braking and Ohmic dissipation important in the hottest planetary atmospheres? What sets the balance between methane and CO in cooler atmospheres, and how important is photochemistry and other non-equilibrium processes? Although it would be natural to extend these same studies down into the super-Earth (< 10 M_earth) mass range, there is currently only one system (GJ 1214) that is suitable for detailed characterization. We therefore propose to carry out a search for transits of known, low-mass radial velocity planets orbiting bright stars, with a 52% probability of finding a new transiting super-Earth. Because the vast majority of Kepler- and CoRoT-detected planets in this mass range are too faint for detailed atmosphere studies, such systems will be crucial in allowing us to characterize the atmospheres of smaller and more earth-like worlds.
Agol Eric
Burrows Adam
Cowan Nicolas
Deming Drake
Desert Jean-Michel
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