The curse of clouds

Abstract

In recent years, a vast increase in spectroscopic observations of transiting exoplanets has for the first time allowed us to search for broad trends in their atmospheric properties. Analysis of these observations has revealed that, even for the highly irradiated hot Jupiters, aerosol is a common presence and must be accounted for in modelling efforts. An additional challenge for hot Jupiters is the large variation in temperature across the planet, which is likely to result in partial or patchy cloud cover. As our observational capability is due to increase further with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, anticipated in autumn 2021, community efforts are underway to prepare modelling and analysis tools capable of recovering information about variable and patchy cloud coverage on hot exoplanets.