Exoclimes_Conference_booklet1

structure by integrating the coupled differential equations describing an evolving selfgravitating
body, employing modern equations of state for the iron, silicates, water, and
gas. For any individual planet, a wide range of compositions is consistent with the
measured mass and radius. We consider the planets as an ensemble, and discuss how
thermal evolution, mass loss, and observational biases sculpt the observed planet massradius-insolation
distribution. Understanding these effects is crucial for constraining the
demographics of small planet bulk compositions and for extracting signatures of the planet
formation process from the accumulating census of transiting planets with dynamical
confirmation.
Ground-based search for the transit of Alpha Cen Bb
Aurelien Wyttenbach — Geneva Observatory
In late 2012, a planet with a minimum mass of 1.13 earth mass may have been detected
around Alpha Cen B with the HARPS spectrograph. With a 3.2 days orbit, the planet has a
10% transit probability. However, with an expected transit depth of ~100 ppm, searching
for the transit is challenging, especially from the ground because of correlated noise in the
light curves. The extreme brightness of Alpha Cen B, and the close separation from Alpha
Cen A (4") complicate the task further. We have developed and tested a method designed
to beat down correlated noise, while coping with the brightness and duplicity of the Alpha
Cen system, using high-resolution spectroscopy. Here, we present the first light curve of
Alpha Cen B obtained using this method during one night of observations with UVES at
the VLT.
HOT JUPITERS: OBSERVATIONS
Spectrophotometry with SOFIA: First results!
Daniel!Angerhausen — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Over the past decade the transit method (measuring the small, wavelength-dependent
variation in flux as an exoplanet passes in front of or behind its parent star) has produced
a number of exciting characterization results. The NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory
for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a 2.5-meter infrared telescope on board a Boeing 747-SP,
has a specific and unique phase space for these extremely precise time-domain
spectrophotometric observations at IR wavelengths: It operates in the right wavelength
regime, where the planet's black-body temperature peaks and contrast ratios between star
and planet improve. The airborne observatory is able to avoid most of the perturbing
variation of atmospheric trace gases that produce the dominant source of noise for
ground-based observations in the near-infrared. These telluric molecules are also the
species of interest in the exo-atmospheres. The SOFIA telescope is operating at much
lower temperatures (~240 K) than ground-based telescopes (~273 K). Therefore thermal
background contributions, the dominant noise source for transit observations at
wavelengths longer than 3 micron, will be significantly reduced. The mobile platform
SOFIA can observe time-critical events, such as the rare transits of long-period planets,
under optimized conditions. After the end of Spitzer and until the start of the JWST
mission, SOFIA will be the only observatory capable of NIR spectrophotometry of
exoplanet atmospheres beyond 1.7 micron (the upper limit for HST after the last upgrade)
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