Clouds in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b
Name
1401.0022.pdf
Size
673.05 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d5099e6a5a93e0f5f4ac2a20427a76dd
Author(s)
Kreidberg, Laura
Bean, Jacob L.
Désert, Jean-Michel
Deming, Drake
Stevenson, Kevin B.
Seager, Sara
Berta-Thompson, Zachory
Seifahrt, Andreas
Homeier, Derek
Benneke, Bjoern
Date Issued
January 2014
Journal
Nature
Publisher
Springer Nature
Citation
Kreidberg, Laura, et al. “Clouds in the Atmosphere of the Super-Earth Exoplanet GJ 1214b.” Nature, vol. 505, no. 7481, Jan. 2014, pp. 69–72. © 2018 Springer Nature Limited
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Recent surveys have revealed that planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune ('super-Earths') are among the most common planets in the Galaxy. Atmospheric studies are the next step towards developing a comprehensive understanding of this new class of object. Much effort has been focused on using transmission spectroscopy to characterize the atmosphere of the super-Earth archetype GJ 1214b (refs 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17), but previous observations did not have sufficient precision to distinguish between two interpretations for the atmosphere. The planet's atmosphere could be dominated by relatively heavy molecules, such as water (for example, a 100 per cent water vapour composition), or it could contain high-altitude clouds that obscure its lower layers. Here we report a measurement of the transmission spectrum of GJ 1214b at near-infrared wavelengths that definitively resolves this ambiguity. The data, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, are sufficiently precise to detect absorption features from a high mean-molecular-mass atmosphere. The observed spectrum, however, is featureless. We rule out cloud-free atmospheric models with compositions dominated by water, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen or carbon dioxide at greater than 5σ confidence. The planet's atmosphere must contain clouds to be consistent with the data. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NATURE12888
