Signatures of Clouds in Hot Jupiter Atmospheres: Modeled High Resolution Emission Spectra from 3D General Circulation Models. (arXiv:1912.02268v2 [astro-ph.EP] UPDATED)
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Harada_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Caleb K. Harada</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kempton_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eliza M.-R. Kempton</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rauscher_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Emily Rauscher</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Roman_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Michael Roman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Malsky_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">Isaac Malsky</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brinjikji_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Marah Brinjikji</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+diTomasso_V/0/1/0/all/0/1">Victoria diTomasso</a>
Observations of scattered light and thermal emission from hot Jupiter
exoplanets have suggested the presence of inhomogeneous aerosols in their
atmospheres. 3D general circulation models (GCMs) that attempt to model the
effects of aerosols have been developed to understand the physical processes
that underlie their dynamical structures. In this work, we investigate how
different approaches to aerosol modeling in GCMs of hot Jupiters affect
high-resolution thermal emission spectra throughout the duration of the
planet’s orbit. Using results from a GCM with temperature-dependent cloud
formation, we calculate spectra of a representative hot Jupiter with different
assumptions regarding the vertical extent and thickness of clouds. We then
compare these spectra to models in which clouds are absent or simply
post-processed (i.e., added subsequently to the completed clear model). We show
that the temperature-dependent treatment of clouds in the GCM produces
high-resolution emission spectra that are markedly different from the clear and
post-processed cases — both in the continuum flux levels and line profiles —
and that increasing the vertical extent and thickness of clouds leads to bigger
changes in these features. We evaluate the net Doppler shifts of the spectra
induced by global winds and the planet’s rotation and show that they are
strongly phase-dependent, especially for models with thicker and more extended
clouds. This work further demonstrates the importance of radiative feedback in
cloudy atmospheric models of hot Jupiters, as this can have a significant
impact on interpreting spectroscopic observations of exoplanet atmospheres.
Observations of scattered light and thermal emission from hot Jupiter
exoplanets have suggested the presence of inhomogeneous aerosols in their
atmospheres. 3D general circulation models (GCMs) that attempt to model the
effects of aerosols have been developed to understand the physical processes
that underlie their dynamical structures. In this work, we investigate how
different approaches to aerosol modeling in GCMs of hot Jupiters affect
high-resolution thermal emission spectra throughout the duration of the
planet’s orbit. Using results from a GCM with temperature-dependent cloud
formation, we calculate spectra of a representative hot Jupiter with different
assumptions regarding the vertical extent and thickness of clouds. We then
compare these spectra to models in which clouds are absent or simply
post-processed (i.e., added subsequently to the completed clear model). We show
that the temperature-dependent treatment of clouds in the GCM produces
high-resolution emission spectra that are markedly different from the clear and
post-processed cases — both in the continuum flux levels and line profiles —
and that increasing the vertical extent and thickness of clouds leads to bigger
changes in these features. We evaluate the net Doppler shifts of the spectra
induced by global winds and the planet’s rotation and show that they are
strongly phase-dependent, especially for models with thicker and more extended
clouds. This work further demonstrates the importance of radiative feedback in
cloudy atmospheric models of hot Jupiters, as this can have a significant
impact on interpreting spectroscopic observations of exoplanet atmospheres.
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