atmosphere Archives

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Status Report

An Evidence Of Rapid Hydrogen Chloride Uptake On Water Ice In The Atmosphere Of Mars

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2023December 12, 2023

In 2020, hydrogen chloride (HCl) in the gas phase was discovered in the atmosphere of Mars with the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) onboard the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission (Korablev […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Spin and Orbital Dynamics Of Planets Undergoing Thermal Atmospheric Tides Using A Vectorial Approach

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2023December 12, 2023

Earth-mass planets are expected to have atmospheres and experience thermal tides raised by the host star.

Venus, Mars and Titan Temperature-Pressure and Cloud Profiles - astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Mars, Status Report, Titan, Venus

Dynamics And Clouds In Planetary Atmospheres From Telescopic Observations

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2023December 12, 2023

This review presents an insight into our current knowledge of the atmospheres of the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the satellite Titan, and those of exoplanets.

Spectral resolution as a function of the wavelength coverage allowed by the NIRSpec + MIRI data. The observed data are represented by the black line. The five models are depicted by the colored lines: ATMO in green; Exo-REM in blue; Sonora in yellow; BT-Settl in red; and DRIFT-PHOENIX in purple. For the models, the spectral resolution has been calculated assuming a Nyquist sampling rate. -- astro-ph.EP

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

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems V: Do Self-Consistent Atmospheric Models Represent JWST Spectra? A Showcase With VHS 1256 b

by Keith CowingDecember 8, 2023December 8, 2023

The unprecedented medium-resolution (R=1500-3500) near- and mid-infrared (1-18um) spectrum provided by JWST for the young (120-160Myr) low-mass (12-20MJup) L-T transition (L7) companion VHS1256b has opened new avenues for the in-depth […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Dynamically Coupled Kinetic Chemistry In Brown Dwarf Atmospheres — II. Cloud And Chemistry Connections In Directly Imaged Sub-Jupiter Exoplanets

by Keith CowingDecember 4, 2023December 4, 2023

With JWST slated to gain high fidelity time dependent data on brown dwarf atmospheres, it is highly anticipated to do the same for directly imaged, sub-Jupiter exoplanets.

100 TO These plots show the range of outcomes for oxygen accumulation (top row, green) and water retention (bottom row, blue) for the set of simulations with 100 TO initial water content on each of the planets. The distributions for the water behavior can be found in Figure 6, bottom row. Given 100 TO, all three planets are likely to retain water past 1 Gyr, making observations of water relatively likely. In addition, thousands of bars of oxygen may be produced for each planet in this scenario. Details on planet b’s behavior, similar to Figure 3, are given in Section 4. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Atmospheric Escape From Three Terrestrial Planets In The L 98-59 System

by Keith CowingDecember 4, 2023December 3, 2023

A critically important process affecting the climate evolution and potential habitability of an exoplanet is atmospheric escape, in which high-energy radiation from a star drives the escape of hydrogen atoms […]

Schematic contours of H, C, and N speciation determined by Raman spectroscopy in basaltic glasses synthesized in piston-cylinder experiments at 1–2 GPa and 1,400°C–1,600°C, shown as a function of fO2 (relative to the IW buffer) and H content (as equivalent H2O, wt. %). Raman and FTIR measurements are from Hirschmann (2012), Armstrong et al. (2015), Dalou et al. (2019, 2022), and Grewal et al. (2020). Blank areas represent conditions at which literature data are currently lacking. This figure demonstrates that H, C, and N on their own may be present as multiple species at a given fO2 or water content, and that they combine to form different molecules in natural and synthetic glasses. fO2 of Earth and Mars formation are indicated. Sulfur speciation is not shown because the effect of H on S speciation has not yet been determined at fO2 relevant to magma ocean conditions. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Distribution Of Volatile Elements During Rocky Planet Formation

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2023December 2, 2023

Core segregation and atmosphere formation are two of the major processes that redistribute the volatile elements-hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S)-in and around rocky planets during their […]

The occurrence rates of hot sub-Neptunes with time, from the young TESS FGK stars (15–450 Myr) from Fernandes & Hardegree-Ullman et al. (2023), to the intermediate age (600–800 Myr) K2 Praesepe GKM sample studied here, to the field K2 GKM stars (3–9 Gyr). The age uncertainties capture the width of the age distributions in each case. The shaded regions indicate the putative timescales for the photoevaporation (

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

Scaling K2 VII: Evidence For A High Occurrence Rate Of Hot Sub-Neptunes At Intermediate Ages

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2023December 2, 2023

The NASA K2 mission obtained high precision time-series photometry for four young clusters, including the near-twin 600-800 Myr-old Praesepe and Hyades clusters.

Stellar versus planetary rest frame for a hot, i.e. short-orbit planet (red arrow) and a temperate planet (green arrow) in the habitable zone around the host star. For the temperate planet, the planetary and stellar (black arrow) rest frames are much closer together and changes in stellar activity may distort the planetary atmospheric signal (figure adapted from Bourrier et al, 2020). -- astro-ph.IM

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

Ground-breaking Exoplanet Science With The ANDES Spectrograph At The ELT

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2023December 2, 2023

In the past decade the study of exoplanet atmospheres at high-spectral resolution, via transmission/emission spectroscopy and cross-correlation techniques for atomic/molecular mapping, has become a powerful and consolidated methodology.

Comparing TRAPPIST-1 planets to Solar System planets (left) and likely rocky exoplanets already observed or planned to be observed by JWST in Cycle 1 and 2 (right). Incident flux is plotted against escape velocity, so that planets in the top left are less likely to retain atmospheres, and planets in the bottom right are more likely to retain atmospheres. Stellar temperature, represented by color, may also play a role in atmosphere retention. Black Xs are placed on the labeled exoplanets which have already been observed to have no thick atmosphere. The gray line in the right panel is the “cosmic shoreline” (Finc ∝ vesc 4 ) presented in Zahnle & Catling (2017). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

The Carbon-Deficient Evolution Of TRAPPIST-1c

by Keith CowingNovember 29, 2023November 29, 2023

Transiting planets orbiting M dwarfs provide the best opportunity to study the atmospheres of rocky planets with current facilities.

atmosphere

An Evidence Of Rapid Hydrogen Chloride Uptake On Water Ice In The Atmosphere Of Mars

Spin and Orbital Dynamics Of Planets Undergoing Thermal Atmospheric Tides Using A Vectorial Approach

Dynamics And Clouds In Planetary Atmospheres From Telescopic Observations

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems V: Do Self-Consistent Atmospheric Models Represent JWST Spectra? A Showcase With VHS 1256 b

Dynamically Coupled Kinetic Chemistry In Brown Dwarf Atmospheres — II. Cloud And Chemistry Connections In Directly Imaged Sub-Jupiter Exoplanets

Atmospheric Escape From Three Terrestrial Planets In The L 98-59 System

The Distribution Of Volatile Elements During Rocky Planet Formation

Scaling K2 VII: Evidence For A High Occurrence Rate Of Hot Sub-Neptunes At Intermediate Ages

Ground-breaking Exoplanet Science With The ANDES Spectrograph At The ELT

The Carbon-Deficient Evolution Of TRAPPIST-1c

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 20 Oct 2026: Wheels Down In Cape Town

Astrobiology Primer

The Evolution Of Oxygen, Temperature, And Marine Aerobic Habitat For Animals Over The Last Billion Years Of Earth History

Icy Ocean Planet Recon: Saildrone Research Fleet To Circle Antarctica For 5 Years

Water As We’ve Never Known It: Testing Water Beyond Earth-like Conditions