Gas Giants Archives

Inferred reflectance and temperature maps for each planet, where the center of the map corresponds to the sub-stellar point. The shading in the upper row corresponds to the single scattering albedo ω of the reflective region on the dayside. Cross validation prefers inhomogeneous models for each planet, so each dayside features a dark sub-stellar region bounded by sub-observer longitudes x1 and x2. The thermal emission maps in the second row are not uniform, but appear nearly uniform in this figure because the colormap spans the full range of dayside temperatures for all five planets. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Observations Of Scattered Light From Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJanuary 26, 2024January 26, 2024

Optical phase curves of hot Jupiters can reveal global scattering properties. We implement a Bayesian inference framework for optical phase curves with flux contributions from: reflected light from a potentially […]

Schematic diagram of various outcomes of planet formation when we assume efficient planet formation at pressure bumps. This diagram summarizes the results from Section 2.1 and 3.1. Pressure bumps allow planets to form quickly and at very similar time and location, which leads to pairs or chains of planets with highly similar masses. This leads to intra-similar “SuperEarths” and “Jupiters” whose masses are set by the pebble isolation mass and gas saturation mass, respectively. Meanwhile, planets that form cores slowly (“Earths”) or accrete massive envelopes slowly (“Saturns”) would exhibit less intra-system mass uniformity. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report

Earths Are Not Super-Earths, Saturns Are Not Jupiters: Imprints Of Pressure-bump Planet Formation On Planetary Architectures

by Keith CowingJanuary 14, 2024January 14, 2024

In protoplanetary disks, sufficiently massive planets excite pressure bumps, which can then be preferred locations for forming new planet cores. We discuss how this loop may affect the architecture of […]

SCT-determined column-averaged ammonia mole fraction in the GRS region separated by one week in time. Top: 2022-10-13 03:45UT; bottom: 2022-10-20 04:40UT. Large scale features persist, but smaller scale features show changes. While these changes may be physical, they may also represent indications of noise. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report

Spatial Variations of Jovian Tropospheric Ammonia via Ground-Based Imaging

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2023December 27, 2023

Optical bandpass-filter observations can be simply processed to determine similar horizontal ammonia distributions above the Jovian cloud tops as mid-infrared and microwave observations.

Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Press Release

Video: The Making of Juice: The Film

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 23, 2023

One giant planet. Three icy moons. An eight-year journey. One special spacecraft.

Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Juice Spacecraft Makes Earth-Moon Flyby On Its Astrobiology-Themed Mission

by Keith CowingNovember 17, 2023November 17, 2023

On 17 November 2023, ESA’s Juice spacecraft carried out one of the largest and most important manoeuvres in its eight-year journey to Jupiter.

Implementation of the FIM inside the IFS arm of SPHERE. On the left drawing, the SPHERE components are labelled in black, while the FIM components are labelled in red. The inset in the top right shows the components of the core optics bench. The light path in the system is fully illustrated in Vigan et al. (2022b, their Fig. 3). The picture on the right shows the FIM at the end of the installation in SPHERE. The IFS Lyot wheel is visible in the bottom left of the picture. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

First Light of VLT/HiRISE: High-resolution Spectroscopy Of Young Giant Exoplanets

by Keith CowingNovember 17, 2023

A major endeavor of this decade is the direct characterization of young giant exoplanets at high spectral resolution to determine the composition of their atmosphere and infer their formation processes […]

This artist’s concept shows what the sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b might look like. In a new study, scientists have found new evidence suggesting how these types of planets can lose their atmospheres. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and D. Player (STScI)

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release

Data Reveals Possible Reason Some Exoplanets Are Shrinking

by Keith CowingNovember 16, 2023November 16, 2023

Some exoplanets seem to be losing their atmospheres and shrinking. In a new study using NASA’s retired Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers find evidence of a possible cause: The cores of […]

Artist impression of WASP-107b and its parent star CREDIT Illustration: LUCA School of Arts, Belgium/ Klaas Verpoest (visuals), Johan Van Looveren (typography). Science: Achrène Dyrek (CEA and Université Paris Cité, France), Michiel Min (SRON, the Netherlands), Leen Decin (KU Leuven, Belgium) / European MIRI EXO GTO team / ESA / NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Webb Detects Water Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide And Sand Clouds In The Atmosphere Nearby Exoplanet WASP-107b

by Keith CowingNovember 16, 2023November 16, 2023

A team of European astronomers, co-led by researchers from the Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of […]

This newly released image from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths.

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release

Mapping Water Clouds On Jupiter With Ultraviolet Data From Hubble

by Keith CowingNovember 8, 2023November 17, 2023

Released in honor of Jupiter reaching opposition, which occurs when the planet and the Sun are in opposite sides of the sky, this view of the gas giant planet includes […]

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

by Keith CowingMay 7, 2023April 14, 2024

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to […]