Higher-order atmospheric effects in the optical occultations and phase curves of exoplanets

系外行星科学正在从探测行星向描述其大气层和表面的方向发展。系外行星的掩星和相位曲线提供了有关行星包络的关键信息。在拟议的研究项目中，我们将调查：1)系外行星掩星和光学波长的相位曲线用于描述系外行星大气的可能性；2)掩星和相位曲线的光学和红外观测如何相互补充。我们的调查将评估大气和非大气影响对测量的联合影响，以及我们随后消除这些影响的能力。这一及时的努力将有助于最大限度地提高几个空间飞行任务将在今后十年内提供的宽带光学光度测量的诊断能力。

Exoplanet science is rapidly progressing from detection of planets towards the characterization of their atmospheres and surfaces. The occultation and phase curve of an exoplanet provides key information on the planet envelope. In the proposed research project, we will investigate: 1) the potential of exoplanet occultations and phase curves at optical wavelengths for the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres; 2) how optical and infrared observations of occultations and phase curves complement each other. Our investigation will assess the joint impact of both atmospheric and non-atmospheric effects on the measurements, and our capacity to subsequently disentangle these effects. This timely effort will help maximize the diagnostics capacities of the broadband optical photometric measurements to be delivered by a few space missions within the upcoming decade.