Genevieve Pereira
Research Mentor: Emily Rauscher
Mentor Department: Astronomy, LSA
Author(s): Genevieve Pereira, Emily Rauscher
Session: Afternoon Session (12:00 PM – 1:00 PM)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Abstract
Hot Jupiters are giant gaseous exoplanets in close orbits to their host stars with high (T>1000 K) atmospheric temperatures, providing the best opportunity for observational characterization of any type of exoplanet. One technique, high-resolution emission spectroscopy, provides insights into their atmospheric dynamics and composition through detailed measures of spectral features. In particular, hot Jupiter atmospheres exhibit large day-night temperature differences, such that the emitted spectra vary depending on the region of the planet under observation. Three-dimensional models of hot Jupiter atmospheres predict complex temperature structures, but it remains challenging to determine how varying properties across the visible hemisphere contribute to the disk-integrated emission spectrum. In this project, we have adapted code to calculate regional spectra and analyze the spectral features using 3-D atmospheric models of the quintessential hot Jupiter WASP-76 b. We focus on CO and H2O lines in our analysis as they are dominant sources of opacity in hot Jupiter atmospheres, and equilibrium chemistry predicts large (for H2O) or small (for CO) changes in abundance with varying regional atmospheric temperature. We find regional differences in spectral features and use this to link the distinct chemical and thermal structures in different regions of the planet to their influence on particular spectral features. We also explore how these spectral features vary with orbital phase. Our work will impact how data from high resolution emission spectroscopy of hot Jupiters is interpreted, ultimately to understand the 3-D structure of a hot Jupiter atmosphere in more detail.
