Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
EPSC Abstracts
Vol. 14, EPSC2020-1117, 2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-1117
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

A comprehensive comparative exoplanetology program to probe atmospheric properties of close-in giant exoplanets

Vatsal Panwar1, Jean-Michel Désert1, Kamen Todorov1, Jacob Bean2, Catherine Huitson3, Jonathan Fortney4, Kevin Stevenson5, and Marcel Bergmann6
Vatsal Panwar et al.
  • 1University of Amsterdam
  • 2University of Chicago
  • 3University of Colorado
  • 4University of California
  • 5Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • 6Gemini Observatory

We present a comparative exoplanetology program of a broad sample of transiting gas giant exoplanet atmospheres using a multi-wavelength ground-based survey. The survey comprises optical and near-infrared spectrophotometric observations with Gemini/GMOS and Keck/MOSFIRE respectively. By observing transits and eclipses of an ensemble of close-in gas giants spanning a range of varying bulk and stellar host properties, and using a consistent methodology for modeling systematics and stellar activity, we put constraints on the presence and properties of clouds, alkali metals, and molecular absorbers in their atmospheres. Combining these results with observations from other observatories (TESS, HST, and Spitzer), we probe the overall properties of close-in giant exoplanet atmospheres, including their metallicity, using multiple tracers across the wide wavelength range. Characterizing the bulk chemical and physical properties of the whole sample helps to constrain the formation and evolution histories of these planets. We also discuss the opportunities of low-resolution spectroscopy observations of exoplanet atmospheres in the JWST era.

How to cite: Panwar, V., Désert, J.-M., Todorov, K., Bean, J., Huitson, C., Fortney, J., Stevenson, K., and Bergmann, M.: A comprehensive comparative exoplanetology program to probe atmospheric properties of close-in giant exoplanets, Europlanet Science Congress 2020, online, 21 Sep–9 Oct 2020, EPSC2020-1117, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-1117, 2020.