Cloud enthusiasts have a new tool to investigate striking formations in the skies above the Red Planet. A browsable database of 20-years-worth of images of clouds and storms, created by […]
Clouds
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Warm Jupiters Around M-dwarfs are Great Opportunities for Extensive Chemical, Cloud and Haze Characterisation with JWST
The population of short-period giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars is slowly rising. These planets present an extraordinary opportunity for atmospheric characterisation and defy our current understanding of planetary formation.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Aggregate Cloud Particle Effects in Exoplanet Atmospheres
Aerosol opacity has emerged as a critical factor controlling transmission and emission spectra. We provide a simple guideline for the effects of aerosol morphology on opacity and residence time in […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Pursuing Truth: Improving Retrievals on Mid-Infrared Exo-Earth Spectra with Physically Motivated Water Abundance Profiles and Cloud Models
Atmospheric retrievals are widely used to constrain exoplanet properties from observed spectra. We investigate how the common nonphysical retrieval assumptions of vertically constant molecule abundances and cloud-free atmospheres affect our […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Venus
Three-Dimensional Venus Cloud Structure Simulated by a General Circulation Model
The clouds have a great impact on Venus’s energy budget and climate evolution, but its three-dimensional structure is still not well understood. Here we incorporate a simple Venus cloud physics […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
First Comparative Exoplanetology Within a Transiting Multi-planet System: Comparing the atmospheres of V1298 Tau b and c
The V1298 Tau system (20-30Myr), is a benchmark young multi-planet system that provides the opportunity to perform comparative exoplanetology between planets orbiting the same star right after their formation.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems II: A 1 to 20 Micron Spectrum of the Planetary-Mass Companion VHS 1256-1257 b
We present the highest fidelity spectrum to date of a planetary-mass object. VHS 1256 b is a <20 MJup widely separated (∼8 arcsec, a = 150 au), young, planetary-mass companion […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Retrieving Young Cloudy L-Dwarfs: A Nearby Planetary-Mass Companion BD+60 1417B and Its Isolated Red Twin W0047
We present an atmospheric retrieval analysis on a set of young, cloudy, red L-dwarfs — CWISER J124332.12+600126.2 and WISEP J004701.06+680352.1 — using the Brewster retrieval framework. We also present the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Transmission Spectroscopy of the Habitable Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140 b with JWST/NIRISS
LHS 1140 b is the second-closest temperate transiting planet to the Earth with an equilibrium temperature low enough to support surface liquid water.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Status Report
Unambiguous Detection Of Mesospheric CO2 Clouds On Mars Using 2.7 μm Absorption Band From The ACS/TGO Solar Occultations
Mesospheric CO2 clouds are one of two types of carbon dioxide clouds known on Mars. We present observations of mesospheric CO2 clouds made by Atmospheric Chemistry Suit (ACS) onboard the […]