Observational constraints on the composition of exoplanets

Details Observational constraints on the composition of exoplanets Observational constraints on the composition of exoplanets

Oct 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011epsc.conf..140g&link_type=abstract

EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.140

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Two forms of exoplanetary spectra can be measured. The primary eclipse provides a transmission spectra of the exoplanet's limb as the planet passes in front of the star. The secondary eclipse measures the emission of mainly the planet's dayside atmosphere from the planet plus star's emission minus the emission of star alone, when it eclipses the planet. In the past 3 years, infrared transmission and emission spectroscopy have revealed the presence of the primary carbon and oxygen species (CH4, CO2, CO, and H2O). Yet, efforts to constrain the abundances of these molecules are hindered by degenerate effects of the temperature and composition in the emission spectra, and the composition and assumed radius in the transmission spectrum. These degeneracies lead to derived mixing ratios that span several orders of magnitude. This talk will discuss the correlations in the degenerate solutions that result from the radiative transfer analyses of both emission and transmission spectroscopy. We present an analysis of primary and secondary transit observations of HD209458b's optical to infrared spectra, and correlate the degenerate effects of the atmospheric parameters using a principal components analysis to better constrain the atmospheric composition of the exoplanet. The derived oxygen and carbon composition of the HD209458b's atmosphere are considered in conjunction with the primary star's composition in order to start to address questions regarding the evolution of the exoplanet.

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