Interpreting Exoplanet Atmospheres - Natasha Batalha - 11/03/2020

Описание: This is a high-level research talk designed for professional astronomers. It is part of the Caltech Astronomy Colloquium Series, hour-long presentations given weekly by top scientists from around the world to the members of our department. All are welcome to watch these colloquium presentations; however, for talks specifically designed for the general public, please see our Caltech Astro Outreach channel:    / caltechastro  . Timestamps and abstract are included below.

Speaker Introduction: 00:00
Presentation on Exoplanet Atmospheres: 1:00
Q&A: 51:31

Date: 11/03/2020
Speaker: Natasha Batalha (NASA Ames)
Title: Interpreting Exoplanet Atmospheres at the Onset of Next-Generation Telescopes
Abstract:
One of NASA's primary goals is to observationally characterize exoplanet atmospheres, understand the chemical and physical processes of exoplanets and improve the understanding of the origins of exoplanetary systems. Throughout the next decade and beyond, JWST, WFIRST, future mission concepts, and ground based telescopes will work towards achieving these goals by interpreting a diverse set of exoplanet atmosphere observations, ranging from hot gas giants to small temperate rocky worlds. Our understanding and interpretation of this full gamut of spectroscopy data will hinge on our ability to accurately link observations to theoretical models. Therefore, it is imperative that our theoretical models are equipped to tackle these problems. Leading up to this new era in exoplanetary space science, one of our goals has been to ensure that the community is equipped with robust, user-friendly, open-source, theoretical models needed to both plan and execute ground-breaking science. I will first discuss the current landscape of theoretical exoplanet model development. Then, I will discuss our recent developments in cloud, opacity, and spectroscopy models that will work together to enable effective interpretation of exoplanet spectroscopy during this next-generation of observations.