NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Predicting the Atmospheric Composition of Extrasolar Giant PlanetsTo date, approximately 120 planet-sized objects have been discovered around other stars, mostly through the radial-velocity technique. This technique can provide information about a planet s minimum mass and its orbital period and distance; however, few other planetary data can be obtained at this point in time unless we are fortunate enough to find an extrasolar giant planet that transits its parent star (i.e., the orbit is edge-on as seen from Earth). In that situation, many physical properties of the planet and its parent star can be determined, including some compositional information. Our prospects of directly obtaining spectra from extrasolar planets may improve in the near future, through missions like NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder. Most of the extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) discovered so far have masses equal to or greater than Jupiter's mass, and roughly 16% have orbital radii less than 0.1 AU - extremely close to the parent star by our own Solar-System standards (note that Mercury is located at a mean distance of 0.39 AU and Jupiter at 5.2 AU from the Sun). Although all EGPs are expected to have hydrogen-dominated atmospheres similar to Jupiter, the orbital distance can strongly affect the planet's temperature, physical, chemical, and spectral properties, and the abundance of minor, detectable atmospheric constituents. Thermochemical equilibrium models can provide good zero-order predictions for the atmospheric composition of EGPs. However, both the composition and spectral properties will depend in large part on disequilibrium processes like photochemistry, chemical kinetics, atmospheric transport, and haze formation. We have developed a photochemical kinetics, radiative transfer, and 1-D vertical transport model to study the atmospheric composition of EGPs. The chemical reaction list contains H-, C-, O-, and N-bearing species and is designed to be valid for atmospheric temperatures ranging from 100-3000 K and pressures up to 50 bar. Here we examine the effect of stellar distance (e.g., incident ultraviolet flux, atmospheric temperature) on the chemical properties of EGPs. The model is applied to two generic Class II and III intermediate temperature EGPs located at 3.3 and 0.27 AU from a solar-like parent star, and the results are compared with a model for Jupiter at 5.2 AU.
Document ID
20040055963
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sharp, A. G.
(Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Moses, J. I.
(Lunar and Planetary Inst. Houston, TX, United States)
Friedson, A. J.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Fegley, B., Jr.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Marley, M. S.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Lodders, K.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Origin of Planetary Systems
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available