The Surfaces and Atmospheres of Exoplanets

系外行星的表面和大气

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-03590
• 负责人: Cowan, Nicolas
• 金额: $ 5.46万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=742630
• 关键词: Surfaces; Atmospheres; Exoplanets

My research team-the McGill Exoplanet Characterization Alliance (MEChA)-is a leader in using the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes to study giant planets orbiting close to their host star. In the next five years, MEChA members will harness data from the Spitzer, Hubble, and James Webb space telescopes to study the climates of all sorts of exotic planets: hot Jupiters, lava worlds, warm sub-Neptunes, and temperate terrestrial planets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. In parallel, we will continue laying the groundwork for future telescopes and missions, including the CSA's EPPE microsatellite mission concept for the middle of this decade, ESA's ARIEL mission, launching in 2028, the Extremely Large Telescopes, due for first light at the end of this decade, and NASA's HabEx and LUVOIR flagship mission concepts for the 2030's. The James Webb Space Telescope will make its first science observations in 2022. As a member of the JWST/NIRISS exoplanet team, I will lead the analysis of the first spectroscopic phase curve obtained by the Canadian near-infrared instrument as part of guaranteed time observations. We will start by studying well-known hot Jupiters, but aim to characterize temperate terrestrial planets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars using the same techniques we have pioneered for hot Jupiters. The atmospheres of rocky planets orbiting red dwarfs will eventually be probed with extremely large telescopes from the ground, provided we can combine high contrast imaging and high dispersion spectroscopy to separate the light of an exoplanet from that of its star. I am involved in long-term plans to design such instruments and the necessary data pipelines, for telescopes in both the southern and the northern hemispheres. In the nearer-term, I am a member of the Science Legacy Survey team for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope's new SPIRou instrument, as well as the Science Team for the soon-to-be-commissioned NIRPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6 meter telescope at La Silla, Chile. These cutting-edge infrared spectrographs were designed to detect new worlds orbiting nearby stars, but MEChA will use them to map molecules and winds in the atmospheres of short period planets. While exoplanet astronomers plan to use JWST to study dozens of short period planets, it will take a dedicated mission to characterize hundreds-thousands of diverse exoplanets. ESA's ARIEL is scheduled to launch in 2028 and will do just that, obtaining infrared spectra for a thousand planets. ARIEL can be thought of as a smaller JWST, but entirely dedicated to exoplanets. I am part of the ARIEL Consortium, one of very few North Americans in a leadership role. In addition to paving the way for these next generation of exoplanet tools, MEChA will spend the next five years using current and near-term telescopes uncovering new atmospheric phenomena and advancing our understanding of the diverse climates of planets, including those that could support life.

我的研究团队-麦吉尔系外行星表征联盟(MECHA)-在使用哈勃和斯皮策太空望远镜研究靠近其主星的巨型行星方面处于领先地位。在接下来的五年里，MECHA成员将利用斯皮策、哈勃和詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的数据来研究各种奇异行星的气候：热木星、熔岩世界、温暖的亚海王星，以及围绕附近红矮星运行的温带陆地行星。与此同时，我们将继续为未来的望远镜和任务奠定基础，包括CSA的EPPE微型卫星任务概念，欧空局的Ariel任务，2028年发射，超大型望远镜，预计在本十年末首次亮相，以及NASA的HabEx和LUVOIR旗舰任务概念，2030年的S。詹姆斯·韦伯空间望远镜将在2022年进行首次科学观测。作为JWST/NIRISS系外行星小组的一名成员，我将领导对加拿大近红外线仪器作为保证时间观测的一部分所获得的第一个光谱相位曲线的分析。我们将从研究著名的热木星开始，但目标是使用我们为热木星开创的相同技术来描述围绕附近红矮星运行的温和类地行星的特征。如果我们能将高对比度成像和高色散光谱相结合，将系外行星的光与其恒星的光分开，那么围绕红矮星运行的岩石行星的大气最终将被从地面上用极大的望远镜探测到。我参与了为南半球和北半球的望远镜设计此类仪器和必要的数据管道的长期计划。在近期，我是加拿大-法国-夏威夷望远镜新的SPIRou仪器的科学遗产调查小组的成员，以及位于智利拉西拉的欧洲南方天文台3.6米望远镜即将投入使用的NIRPS仪器的科学小组的成员。这些尖端的红外光谱仪旨在探测围绕附近恒星运行的新世界，但MECHA将使用它们来绘制短周期行星大气中的分子和风。虽然系外行星天文学家计划使用JWST来研究数十颗短周期行星，但它将需要一项专门的任务来表征数十万颗不同的系外行星。欧空局的Ariel计划于2028年发射，并将获得1000个行星的红外光谱。阿里尔可以被认为是一个较小的JWST，但完全致力于系外行星。我是Ariel财团的一员，该财团是为数不多的担任领导职务的北美人之一。除了为这些下一代系外行星工具铺平道路外，MECHA还将在接下来的五年里利用当前和近期的望远镜发现新的大气现象，并促进我们对行星多样化气候的理解，包括那些可能支持生命的气候。