Special Astrophysics Seminar

Mapping Exoplanets

Nick Cowan

University of Washington

Many of the extrasolar planets discovered so far are gas giants in exceedingly short-period orbits. These “hot Jupiters” undergo extreme irradiation and modest rotation rates compared to solar system planets and therefore represent uncharted territory in atmospheric dynamics. Fortunately, exoplanet observations are streaming down from the Spitzer Space Telescope and should continue to do so even when it runs out of coolant. I will review the current state of the art in exoplanet photometry, and describe my efforts to invert thermal light curves into rough weather maps of these exotic objects.