NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0316
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0316 |
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PI: Kevin Stevenson, University of Chicago, kbs@uchicago.edu
Address: Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
CoI: Jean-Michel Desert, Caltech Astronomy
CoI: Jacob Bean, University of Chicago
CoI: Nikku Madhusudhan, Yale University
CoI: Jonathan Fortney, UC Santa Cruz
CoI: Marcel Bergmann, NOAO
Title: Validation of FLAMINGOS-2 for Exoplanet Research: The WASP-18b Case Study
Abstract:
Recent surveys have revealed an amazing, yet unexplained, diversity of
planets orbiting other stars. Studying the atmospheres of representative
exoplanets is the next step in leveraging these detections to further
transform our understanding of planet formation and planetary physics.
However, revealing the fundamental properties of exoplanet atmospheres to
investigate their nature and origins requires high-precision spectroscopy
that is sensitive to spectral features from multiple chemical species. Such
data can only be obtained with broad-wavelength studies using large
telescopes. We propose to use the FLAMINGOS-2 instrument to perform
long-slit, spectroscopy observations of the higly-irradiated exoplanet
WASP-18b during secondary eclipse to constrain its dayside atmospheric
composition, chemistry, and thermal profile. These observations will be
sensitive to molecules such as H2O and CH4 and they will definitively
constrain the presence of a thermal inversion. This study is the first step
in a planned survey of transiting exoplanets using FLAMINGOS-2. A survey is
the next logical step to put analyses of individual objects into a broader
context and to get at the underlying physics that results in a diverse array
of emergent properties.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0316 |
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