Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim

We demonstrate the effectiveness of the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory mission concept for constraining the atmospheric properties of hot and warm gas giants and super Earths. Synthetic primary and secondary transit spectra for a range of planets are passed through EChOSim (Waldmann and Pasc...

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Main Authors: Barstow, J, Bowles, N, Aigrain, S, Fletcher, L, Irwin, P, Varley, R, Pascale, E
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Springer Netherlands 2014
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author Barstow, J
Bowles, N
Aigrain, S
Fletcher, L
Irwin, P
Varley, R
Pascale, E
author_facet Barstow, J
Bowles, N
Aigrain, S
Fletcher, L
Irwin, P
Varley, R
Pascale, E
author_sort Barstow, J
collection OXFORD
description We demonstrate the effectiveness of the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory mission concept for constraining the atmospheric properties of hot and warm gas giants and super Earths. Synthetic primary and secondary transit spectra for a range of planets are passed through EChOSim (Waldmann and Pascale 2014) to obtain the expected level of noise for different observational scenarios; these are then used as inputs for the NEMESIS atmospheric retrieval code and the retrieved atmospheric properties (temperature structure, composition and cloud properties) compared with the known input values, following the method of Barstow et al. (2013a). To correctly retrieve the temperature structure and composition of the atmosphere to within 2 {\sigma}, we find that we require: a single transit or eclipse of a hot Jupiter orbiting a sun-like (G2) star at 35 pc to constrain the terminator and dayside atmospheres; 20 transits or eclipses of a warm Jupiter orbiting a similar star; 10 transits/eclipses of a hot Neptune orbiting an M dwarf at 6 pc; and 30 transits or eclipses of a GJ1214b-like planet.
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spelling oxford-uuid:00299019-462f-410f-8ad6-3c62cc2743532022-03-26T08:28:09ZExoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSimJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:00299019-462f-410f-8ad6-3c62cc274353EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer Netherlands2014Barstow, JBowles, NAigrain, SFletcher, LIrwin, PVarley, RPascale, EWe demonstrate the effectiveness of the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory mission concept for constraining the atmospheric properties of hot and warm gas giants and super Earths. Synthetic primary and secondary transit spectra for a range of planets are passed through EChOSim (Waldmann and Pascale 2014) to obtain the expected level of noise for different observational scenarios; these are then used as inputs for the NEMESIS atmospheric retrieval code and the retrieved atmospheric properties (temperature structure, composition and cloud properties) compared with the known input values, following the method of Barstow et al. (2013a). To correctly retrieve the temperature structure and composition of the atmosphere to within 2 {\sigma}, we find that we require: a single transit or eclipse of a hot Jupiter orbiting a sun-like (G2) star at 35 pc to constrain the terminator and dayside atmospheres; 20 transits or eclipses of a warm Jupiter orbiting a similar star; 10 transits/eclipses of a hot Neptune orbiting an M dwarf at 6 pc; and 30 transits or eclipses of a GJ1214b-like planet.
spellingShingle Barstow, J
Bowles, N
Aigrain, S
Fletcher, L
Irwin, P
Varley, R
Pascale, E
Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title_full Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title_fullStr Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title_full_unstemmed Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title_short Exoplanet atmospheres with EChO: spectral retrievals using EChOSim
title_sort exoplanet atmospheres with echo spectral retrievals using echosim
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