ESA Hubble Science Release | 2022 Apr 25
Archival observations of 25 hot Jupiters by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have been analysed by an international team of astronomers, enabling them to answer five open questions important to our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. Amongst other findings, the team found that the presence of metal oxides and hydrides in the hottest exoplanet atmospheres was clearly correlated with the atmospheres' being thermally inverted.
The field of exoplanet science has long since shifted its focus from just detection onto characterisation, although characterisation remains extremely challenging. Thus far, the majority of research into characterisation has been directed towards modelling, or studies focusing on one or a few exoplanets. This new work, led by researchers based at University College London (UCL), used the largest amount of archival data ever examined in a single exoplanet atmosphere survey to analyse the atmospheres of 25 exoplanets. ...
The science team sought to find answers to five open questions about exoplanet atmospheres — an ambitious goal that they succeeded in reaching. Their questions probed what H– and certain metals can tell us about the chemistry and circulation of exoplanet atmospheres, and about planet formation. They chose to investigate a wide range of hot Jupiters, with the intention of identifying trends within their sample population that might provide insight into exoplanet atmospheres more generally. ...
Mysteries of Gas Giants Known as ‘Hot Jupiters’ Unravelled
University College London | 2022 Apr 25
Five Key Exoplanet Questions Answered via the Analysis of 25 Hot-Jupiter Atmospheres in Eclipse ~ Q. Changeat et al
- Astrophysical Journal Supplement 260(1):3 (May 2022) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4365/ac5cc2