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Constraining Stellar Photospheres as an Essential Step for Transmission Spectroscopy of Small ExoplanetsTransiting exoplanets offer a unique opportunity to study the atmospheres of terrestrial worlds in other systems in the coming decade. By absorbing and scattering starlight, exoplanet atmospheres produce spectroscopic transit depth variations that allow us to probe their physical structures and chemical compositions. These same variations, however, can be introduced by the photospheric heterogeneity of the host star (i.e., the transit light source effect). Recent modeling efforts and increasingly precise observations are revealing that our understanding of transmission spectra of the smallest transiting exoplanets will likely be limited by our knowledge of host star photospheres. Here we outline promising scientific opportunities for the next decade that can provide useful constraints on stellar photospheres and inform interpretations of transmission spectra of the smallest (R < 4R ) exoplanets. We identify and discuss four primary opportunities: (1) refining stellar magnetic active region properties through exoplanet crossing events; (2) spectral decomposition of active exoplanet host stars; (3) joint retrievals of stellar photospheric and planetary atmospheric
properties with studies of transmission spectra; and (4) continued visual transmission spectroscopy studies to complement longer-wavelength studies from JWST. In this context, we make four recommendations to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey Committee: (1) identify the transit light source (TLS) effect as a challenge to precise exoplanet transmission spectroscopy and an opportunity ripe for scientific advancement in the coming decade; (2) include
characterization of host star photospheric heterogeneity as part of a comprehensive research strategy for studying transiting exoplanets; (3) support the construction of ground-based extremely large telescopes (ELTs); (4) support multi-disciplinary research teams that bring together the heliophysics, stellar physics, and exoplanet communities to further exploit transiting exoplanets as spatial probes of stellar photospheres; and (5) support visual transmission spectroscopy efforts as complements to longer-wavelength observational campaigns with JWST.
Document ID
20205000792
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
White Paper
Authors
Benjamin V. Rackham
(University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona, United States)
Arazi Pinhas
(University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Daniel Apai
(University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona, United States)
Raphaelle Haywood
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Heather Cegla
(Geneva Observatory)
Nestor Espinoza
(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Heidelberg, Germany)
Johanna Teske
(Carnegie Observatories Pasadena, California, United States)
Michael Gully-Santiago
(Bay Area Environmental Research Institute Petaluma, California, United States)
Gioia Rau
(Catholic University of America Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States)
Brett M. Morris
(University of Washington Seattle, Washington, United States)
Daniel Angerhausen
(University of Bern Bern, Switzerland)
Thomas Barclay
(Bay Area Environmental Research Institute Petaluma, California, United States)
Ludmila Carone
(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Heidelberg, Germany)
P. Wilson Cauley
(University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado, United States)
Julien de Wit
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Shawn David Domagal-goldman
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, United States)
Chuanfei Dong
(Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey, United States)
Diana Dragomir
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Mark S. Giampapa
(National Solar Observatory Boulder, Colorado, United States)
Yasuhiro Hasegawa
(Jet Propulsion Lab La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States)
Natalie R. Hinkel
(Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, Texas, United States)
Renyu Hu
(Jet Propulsion Lab La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States)
Andres Jordan
(Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Santiago, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile)
Irina Nikolaevna Kitiashvili
(Bay Area Environmental Research Institute Petaluma, California, United States)
Laura Kreidberg
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Carey Lisse
(Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland, United States)
Joe Llama
(Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Mercedes Lopez-Morales
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Bertrand Mennesson
(Jet Propulsion Lab La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States)
Karan Molaverdikhani
(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Heidelberg, Germany)
David J. Osip
(Las Campanas Observatory La Serena, Chile)
Elisa V Quintana
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, United States)
Date Acquired
April 13, 2020
Publication Date
March 14, 2019
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysics > Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Publisher: Cornell University
URL: arxiv.org/abs/1903.06152
Subject Category
Astronomy
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80GSFC17M0002
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.
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