On the Inclination Dependence of Exoplanet Phase Signatures
- Creators
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Kane, Stephen R.
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Gelino, Dawn M.
Abstract
Improved photometric sensitivity from space-based telescopes has enabled the detection of phase variations for a small sample of hot Jupiters. However, exoplanets in highly eccentric orbits present unique opportunities to study the effects of drastically changing incident flux on the upper atmospheres of giant planets. Here we expand upon previous studies of phase functions for these planets at optical wavelengths by investigating the effects of orbital inclination on the flux ratio as it interacts with the other effects induced by orbital eccentricity.We determine optimal orbital inclinations for maximum flux ratios and combine these calculations with those of projected separation for application to coronagraphic observations. These are applied to several of the known exoplanets which may serve as potential targets in current and future coronagraph experiments.
Additional Information
© 2011 American Astronomical Society. Received 2011 December 2; accepted 2011 January 5; published 2011 February 10. The authors thank David Ciardi and Warren Skidmore for several useful discussions. We thank the anonymous referee whose comments greatly improved the quality of the paper. This research has made use of the Exoplanet Orbit Database and the Exoplanet Data Explorer at http://exoplanets.org.Attached Files
Published - Kane2011p13015Astrophys_J.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 22960
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110317-130411887
- Created
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2011-03-18Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)