Panayotis Lavvas

Electron densities and alkali atoms in exoplanet atmospheres

We describe a detailed study on the properties of alkali atoms in extrasolar giant planets, and specifically focus on their role in generating the atmospheric free electron densities, as well as their impact on the transit depth observations. We focus our study on the case of HD 209458 b, and we show that photoionization produces a large electron density in the middle atmosphere that is about two orders of magnitude larger than the density anticipated from thermal ionization. Our purely photochemical calculations though result in a much larger transit depth for K than observed for this planet. This result does not change even if the roles of molecular chemistry and excited state chemistry are considered for the alkali atoms. In contrast, the model results for the case of exoplanet XO-2 b are in good agreement with the available observations. Given these results we discuss other possible scenarios, such as changes in the elemental abundances, changes in the temperature profiles, and the possible presence of clouds, which could potentially explain the observed HD 209458 b alkali properties. We find that most of these scenarios can not explain the observations, with the exception of a heterogeneous source (i.e. clouds or aerosols) under specific conditions, but we also note the discrepancies among the available observations.

Detection of CO and HCN in Pluto’s atmosphere with ALMA

Abstract Observations of the Pluto-Charon system, acquired with the ALMA interferometer on June 12–13, 2015, have led to the detection of the CO(3-2) and HCN(4-3) rotational transitions from Pluto (including the hyperfine structure of HCN), providing a strong confirmation of the presence of CO, and the first observation of HCN in Pluto’s atmosphere. The CO and HCN lines probe Pluto’s atmosphere up to ∼450xa0km and ∼900xa0km altitude, respectively, with a large contribution due to limb emission. The CO detection yields (i) a much improved determination of the CO mole fraction, as 515xa0±xa040xa0ppm for a 12 μbar surface pressure (ii) strong constraints on Pluto’s mean atmospheric dayside temperature profile over ∼50–400xa0km, with clear evidence for a well-marked temperature decrease (i.e., mesosphere) above the 30–50xa0km stratopause and a best-determined temperature of 70xa0±xa02xa0K at 300xa0km, somewhat lower than previously estimated from stellar occultations (81u2009± xa06xa0K), and in agreement with recent inferences from New Horizons / Alice solar occultation data. The HCN line shape implies a high abundance of this species in the upper atmosphere, with a mole fraction >1.5xa0×xa010 − 5 above 450xa0km and a value of 4xa0×xa010 − 5 near 800xa0km. Assuming HCN at saturation, this would require a warm (>92xa0K) upper atmosphere layer; while this is not ruled out by the CO emission, it is inconsistent with the Alice-measured CH4 and N2 line-of-sight column densities. Taken together, the large HCN abundance and the cold upper atmosphere imply supersaturation of HCN to a degree (7–8 orders of magnitude) hitherto unseen in planetary atmospheres, probably due to a lack of condensation nuclei above the haze region and the slow kinetics of condensation at the low pressure and temperature conditions of Pluto’s upper atmosphere. HCN is also present in the bottom ∼100xa0km of the atmosphere, with a 10 − 8 –10 − 7 mole fraction; this implies either HCN saturation or undersaturation there, depending on the precise stratopause temperature. The HCN column is (1.6xa0±xa00.4)× 1014xa0cm − 2 , suggesting a surface-referred vertically-integrated net production rate of ∼2xa0×xa0107xa0cm − 2 xa0s − 1 . Although HCN rotational line cooling affects Pluto’s atmosphere heat budget, the amounts determined in this study are insufficient to explain the well-marked mesosphere and upper atmosphere’s ∼70xa0K temperature, which if controlled by HCN cooling would require HCN mole fractions of (3–7) × 10 − 4 over 400–800xa0km. We finally report an upper limit on the HC3N column density ( − 2 ) and on the HC15N / HC14N ratio (

An ultrahot gas-giant exoplanet with a stratosphere

Infrared radiation emitted from a planet contains information about the chemical composition and vertical temperature profile of its atmosphere. If upper layers are cooler than lower layers, molecular gases will produce absorption features in the planetary thermal spectrum. Conversely, if there is a stratosphere—where temperature increases with altitude—these molecular features will be observed in emission. It has been suggested that stratospheres could form in highly irradiated exoplanets, but the extent to which this occurs is unresolved both theoretically and observationally. A previous claim for the presence of a stratosphere remains open to question, owing to the challenges posed by the highly variable host star and the low spectral resolution of the measurements. Here we report a near-infrared thermal spectrum for the ultrahot gas giant WASP-121b, which has an equilibrium temperature of approximately 2,500 kelvin. Water is resolved in emission, providing a detection of an exoplanet stratosphere at 5σ confidence. These observations imply that a substantial fraction of incident stellar radiation is retained at high altitudes in the atmosphere, possibly by absorbing chemical species such as gaseous vanadium oxide and titanium oxide.

Structure and composition of Pluto's atmosphere from the New Horizons solar ultraviolet occultation

The Alice instrument on NASAs New Horizons spacecraft observed an ultraviolet solar occultation by Plutos atmosphere on 2015 July 14. The transmission vs. altitude was sensitive to the presence of N_2, CH_4, C_2H_2, C_2H_4, C_2H_6, and haze. We derived line-of-sight abundances and local number densities for the 5 molecular species, and line-of-sight optical depth and extinction coefficients for the haze. We found the following major conclusions: (1) We confirmed temperatures in Plutos upper atmosphere that were colder than expected before the New Horizons flyby, with upper atmospheric temperatures near 65–68 K. The inferred enhanced Jeans escape rates were (3–7) × 10^(22) N_2 s^(−1) and (4–8) × 10^(25) CH_4 s^(−1) at the exobase (at a radius of ∼ 2900 km, or an altitude of ∼1710 km). (2) We measured CH_4 abundances from 80 to 1200 km above the surface. A joint analysis of the Alice CH_4 and Alice and REX N_2 measurements implied a very stable lower atmosphere with a small eddy diffusion coefficient, most likely between 550 and 4000 cm^2 s^(−1). Such a small eddy diffusion coefficient placed the homopause within 12 km of the surface, giving Pluto a small planetary boundary layer. The inferred CH_4 surface mixing ratio was ∼ 0.28–0.35%. (3) The abundance profiles of the “C_2H_x hydrocarbons” (C_2H_2, C_2H_4, C_2H_6) were not simply exponential with altitude. We detected local maxima in line-of-sight abundance near 410 km altitude for C_2H_4, near 320 km for C_2H_2, and an inflection point or the suggestion of a local maximum at 260 km for C_2H_6. We also detected local minima near 200 km altitude for C_2H_4, near 170 km for C_2H_2, and an inflection point or minimum near 170–200 km for C_2H_6. These compared favorably with models for hydrocarbon production near 300–400 km and haze condensation near 200 km, especially for C_2H_2 and C_2H_4 (Wong et al., 2017). (4) We found haze that had an extinction coefficient approximately proportional to N_2 density.

Haze in Pluto's atmosphere

Abstract Haze in Plutos atmosphere was detected in images by both the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) on New Horizons. LORRI observed haze up to altitudes of at least 200xa0km above Plutos surface at solar phase angles from ∼20° to ∼169°. The haze is structured with about ∼20 layers, and the extinction due to haze is greater in the northern hemisphere than at equatorial or southern latitudes. However, more haze layers are discerned at equatorial latitudes. A search for temporal variations found no evidence for motions of haze layers (temporal changes in layer altitudes) on time scales of 2 to 5 hours, but did find evidence of changes in haze scale height above 100xa0km altitude. An ultraviolet extinction attributable to the atmospheric haze was also detected by the ALICE ultraviolet spectrograph on New Horizons. The haze particles are strongly forward-scattering in the visible, and a microphysical model of haze is presented which reproduces the visible phase function just above the surface with 0.5xa0µm spherical particles, but also invokes fractal aggregate particles to fit the visible phase function at 45xa0km altitude and account for UV extinction. A model of haze layer generation by orographic excitation of gravity waves is presented. This model accounts for the observed layer thickness and distribution with altitude. Haze particles settle out of the atmosphere and onto Plutos surface, at a rate sufficient to alter surface optical properties on seasonal time scales. Plutos regional scale albedo contrasts may be preserved in the face of the haze deposition by atmospheric collapse.

On the Possibility of Significant Electron Depletion due to Nanograin Charging in the Coma of Comet 67p/churyumov-gerasimenko near Perihelion

We approach the complicated phenomena of gas-dust interactions in a cometary ionosphere, focusing in particular on the possibility of significant depletion in electron number density due to grain charging. Our one-dimensional ionospheric model, accounting for grain charging processes, is applied to the subsolar direction and the diamagnetic cavity of 67P/Churyuomov-Gerasimenko, the target comet for the ESA Rosetta mission, at perihelion (~1.25-1.30xa0AU). We argue on the one hand that grains with radii >100xa0nm are unlikely to significantly affect the overall ionospheric particle balance within this environment, at least for cometocentric distances >10xa0km. On the other hand, if nanograins with radii in the 1-3xa0nm range are ejected to the coma at a level of ~1% with respect to the mass of the sublimated gas, a significant electron depletion is expected up to cometocentric distances of several tens of kilometers. We relate these results to the recent Cassini discoveries of very pronounced electron depletion compared with the positive ion population in the plume of Enceladus, which has been attributed to nanograin charging.

HST PanCET Program: A Cloudy Atmosphere for the Promising JWST Target WASP-101b

We present results from the first observations of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Panchromatic Comparative Exoplanet Treasury program for WASP-101b, a highly inflated hot Jupiter and one of the community targets proposed for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Early Release Science (ERS) program. From a single HST Wide Field Camera 3 observation, we find that the near-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-101b contains no significant H2O absorption features and we rule out a clear atmosphere at 13σ. Therefore, WASP-101b is not an optimum target for a JWST ERS program aimed at observing strong molecular transmission features. We compare WASP-101b to the well-studied and nearly identical hot Jupiter WASP-31b. These twin planets show similar temperature–pressure profiles and atmospheric features in the near-infrared. We suggest exoplanets in the same parameter space as WASP-101b and WASP-31b will also exhibit cloudy transmission spectral features. For future HST exoplanet studies, our analysis also suggests that a lower count limit needs to be exceeded per pixel on the detector in order to avoid unwanted instrumental systematics.

Titan brighter at twilight than in daylight

Investigating the overall brightness of planets (and moons) provides insight into their envelopes and energy budgets [1, 2, 3, 4]. Titan phase curves (a representation of overall brightness vs. Sun-object-observer phase angle) have been published over a limited range of phase angles and spectral passbands [5, 6]. Such information has been key to the study of the stratification, microphysics and aggregate nature of Titans atmospheric haze [7, 8], and has complemented the spatially-resolved observations first showing that the haze scatters efficiently in the forward direction [7, 9]. Here we present Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem whole-disk brightness measurements of Titan from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. The observations reveal that Titans twilight (loosely defined as the view when the phase angle 150deg) outshines its daylight at various wavelengths. From the match between measurements and models, we show that at even larger phase angles the back-illuminated moon will appear much brighter than when fully illuminated. This behavior is unique to Titan in our solar system, and is caused by its extended atmosphere and the efficient forward scattering of sunlight by its atmospheric haze. We infer a solar energy deposition rate (for a solar constant of 14.9 Wm-2) of (2.84+/-0.11)x10^14 W, consistent to within 1-2 standard deviations with Titans time-varying thermal emission spanning 2007- 2013 [10, 11]. We propose that a forward scattering signature may also occur at large phase angles in the brightness of exoplanets with extended hazy atmospheres, and that this signature has valuable diagnostic potential for atmospheric characterization.

Hubble PanCET: an isothermal day-side atmosphere for the bloated gas-giant HAT-P-32Ab

European Research Council under the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/ERC [336792]; Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant; Space Telescope Science Institue [HST-GO-14767]; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); SNSF; European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon research and innovation programme (project FOUR ACES) [724427]

Aerosols optical properties in Titan’s detached haze layer before the equinox

Abstract UV observations with Cassini ISS Narrow Angle Camera of Titan’s detached haze is an excellent tool to probe its aerosols content without being affected by the gas or the multiple scattering. Unfortunately, its low extent in altitude requires a high resolution calibration and limits the number of images available in the Cassini dataset. However, we show that it is possible to extract on each profile the local maximum of intensity of this layer and confirm its stability at 500 ± 8xa0km during the 2005–2007 period for all latitudes lower than 45°N. Using the fractal aggregate scattering model of Tomasko etxa0al. (2008) and a single scattering radiative transfer model, it is possible to derive the optical properties required to explain the observations made at different phase angles. Our results indicates that the aerosols have at least ten monomers of 60xa0nm radius, while the typical tangential column number density is about 2 · 1010xa0aggxa0m − 2 . Moreover, we demonstrate that these properties are constant within the error bars in the southern hemisphere of Titan over the observed time period. In the northern hemisphere, the size of the aerosols tends to decrease relatively to the southern hemisphere and is associated with a higher tangential opacity. However, the lower number of observations available in this region due to the orbital constraints is a limiting factor in the accuracy of these results. Assuming a fixed homogeneous content we notice that the tangential opacity can fluctuate up to a factor 3 among the observations at the equator. These variations could be linked with short scale temporal and/or longitudinal events changing the local density of the layer.