Presented By: Department of Astronomy
Department of Astronomy 2023-2024 Colloquium Series Presents:
Dr. Megan Mansfield, NASA Sagan Fellow, The University of Arizona
"Studying exoplanet atmospheres in the era of JWST and the ELTs"
The recent launch of JWST and the upcoming extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will revolutionize our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by providing observations at an unprecedented level of detail. In this talk, I will discuss two methods for studying the atmospheres of exoplanets. First, I will discuss the recently developed method of high-resolution cross-correlation analysis, which can be used to precisely measure abundances and thermal structures from ground-based telescopes. I will present the first results from a large program to measure high-resolution transmission spectra of 10 giant exoplanets using the IGRINS instrument on Gemini-S. I will describe the goals of this ongoing program and show first results constraining the carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b. I will then describe the advances in this observational style which will be enabled by the next-generation ELTs.
Second, I will present a method of using JWST to quickly determine which M dwarf planets host atmospheres through secondary eclipse observations. I will give an overview of the application of this method in the first two years of JWST science, including new, unpublished results from my own program to observe the hot terrestrial planet Gl 486b in secondary eclipse. Finally, I will discuss how this technique will lay the groundwork for future, detailed observations of terrestrial planets with the ELTs
The recent launch of JWST and the upcoming extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will revolutionize our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by providing observations at an unprecedented level of detail. In this talk, I will discuss two methods for studying the atmospheres of exoplanets. First, I will discuss the recently developed method of high-resolution cross-correlation analysis, which can be used to precisely measure abundances and thermal structures from ground-based telescopes. I will present the first results from a large program to measure high-resolution transmission spectra of 10 giant exoplanets using the IGRINS instrument on Gemini-S. I will describe the goals of this ongoing program and show first results constraining the carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b. I will then describe the advances in this observational style which will be enabled by the next-generation ELTs.
Second, I will present a method of using JWST to quickly determine which M dwarf planets host atmospheres through secondary eclipse observations. I will give an overview of the application of this method in the first two years of JWST science, including new, unpublished results from my own program to observe the hot terrestrial planet Gl 486b in secondary eclipse. Finally, I will discuss how this technique will lay the groundwork for future, detailed observations of terrestrial planets with the ELTs
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