Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Earth and Space Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-226). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19846

The >1500 confirmed exoplanets span a wide range of planetary masses (~1 M_Earth – 20 M_Jupiter), radii (~0.3 R_Earth – 2 R_Jupiter), semi-major axes (~0.005 – 100 AU), orbital periods (~0.3 – 1 x 10⁵ days), and host star spectral types. The effects of a widely-varying parameter space on a planetary atmosphere's chemistry and dynamics can be determined through transiting exoplanet observations. An exoplanet's atmospheric signal, either in absorption or emission, is on the order of ~0.1% which is dwarfed by telescope-specific systematic error sources up to ~60%. This thesis explores some of the major sources of error and their removal from space- and ground-based observations, specifically Spitzer/IRAC single-object photometry, IRTF/SpeX and Palomar/TripleSpec low-resolution single-slit near-infrared spectroscopy, and Kuiper/Mont4k multi-object photometry. The errors include pointing-induced uncertainties, airmass variations, seeing-induced signal loss, telescope jitter, and system variability. They are treated with detector efficiency pixel-mapping, normalization routines, a principal component analysis, binning with the geometric mean in Fourier-space, characterization by a comparison star, repeatability, and stellar monitoring to get within a few times of the photon noise limit. As a result, these observations provide strong measurements of an exoplanet's dynamical day-to-night heat transport, constrain its CH₄ abundance, investigate emission mechanisms, and develop an observing strategy with smaller telescopes. The reduction methods presented here can also be applied to other existing and future platforms to identify and remove systematic errors. Until such sources of uncertainty are characterized with bright systems with large planetary signals for platforms such as the James Webb Space Telescope, for example, one cannot resolve smaller objects with more subtle spectral features, as expected of exo-Earths.

Because of their intense incident stellar irradiation and likely tidally locked spin states, hot Jupiters are expected to have wind speeds that approach or exceed the speed of sound. In this work, we develop a theory to explain the magnitude of these winds. We model hot Jupiters as planetary heat engines and show that hot Jupiters are always less efficient than an ideal Carnot engine. Next, we demonstrate that our predicted wind speeds match those from three-dimensional numerical simulations over a broad range of parameters. Finally, we use our theory to evaluate how well different drag mechanisms can match the wind speeds observed with Doppler spectroscopy for HD 189733b and HD 209458b. We find that magnetic drag is potentially too weak to match the observations for HD 189733b, but is compatible with the observations for HD 209458b. In contrast, shear instabilities and/or shocks are compatible with both observations. Furthermore, the two mechanisms predict different wind speed trends for hotter and colder planets than currently observed. As a result, we propose that a wider range of Doppler observations could reveal multiple drag mechanisms at play across different hot Jupiters.

Les Jupiters Chauds représentent une classe d’exoplanètes très intéressante à étudier. En effet, ces planètes géantes gazeuses, orbitant très proches de leurs étoiles (typiquement 0.05 UA) reçoivent un ux UV 10 000 fois supérieur à ce que reçoit Jupiter par exemple dans notre Système Solaire. La temprérature atmosphérique, par conséquent très élevée, est comprise entre 1000 et 3000 K. Ces températures élevées, l'importance de la dynamique et la forte irradiation UV font des atmosphères de ces planètes le site d'une chimie unique, n'ayant pas d'équivalent dans le Système Solaire [...]. / Hot Jupiters are a class of exoplanets very interesting to study. Indeed, these giant planets, orbiting very close to their star (typically 0.05 AU), receive a UV ux 10 000 times more intense that the one Jupiter receives in our Solar system. The atmospheric temperature, thus very high, ranges between 1000 and 3000 K. Because of these high temperatures, the important dynamic and strong UV irradiation, the atmospheres of these planets are the site of unique chemistry, having no equivalent in the Solar System [...]

The nature of the thermal structure of hot Jupiter atmospheres is one of the key questions raised by the characterization of transiting exoplanets over the past decade. There have been claims that many hot Jupiters exhibit atmospheric thermal inversions. However, these claims have been based on broadband photometry rather than the unambiguous identification of emission features with spectroscopy, and the chemical species that could cause the thermal inversions by absorbing stellar irradiation at high altitudes have not been identified despite extensive theoretical and observational effort. Here we present high-precision Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 observations of the dayside thermal emission spectrum of the hot Jupiter HD 209458b, which was the first exoplanet suggested to have a thermal inversion. In contrast to previous results for this planet, our observations detect water in absorption at 6.2 sigma confidence. When combined with Spitzer photometry, the data are indicative of a monotonically decreasing temperature with pressure over the range of 1-0.001 bars at 7.7 sigma confidence. We test the robustness of our results by exploring a variety of model assumptions, including the temperature profile parameterization, presence of a cloud, and choice of Spitzer data reduction. We also introduce a new analysis method to determine the elemental abundances from the spectrally retrieved mixing ratios with thermochemical self-consistency and find plausible abundances consistent with solar metallicity (0.06-10 x solar) and carbon-to oxygen ratios less than unity. This work suggests that high-precision spectrophotometric results are required to robustly infer thermal structures and compositions of extrasolar planet atmospheres and to perform comparative exoplanetology.

Stellar flares are a frequent occurrence on young low-mass stars around which many detected exoplanets orbit. Flares are energetic, impulsive events, and their impact on exoplanetary atmospheres needs to be taken into account when interpreting transit observations. We have developed a model to describe the upper atmosphere of extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) orbiting flaring stars. The model simulates thermal escape from the upper atmospheres of close-in EGPs. Ionisation by solar radiation and electron impact is included and photo-chemical and diffusive transport processes are simulated. This model is used to study the effect of stellar flares from the solar-like G star HD 209458 and the young K star HD 189733 on their respective planets, HD 209458b and HD 189733b. The Sun is used as a proxy for HD 209458, and is an element of Eridani, as a proxy for HD 189733. A hypothetical HD 209458b-like planet orbiting the very active M star AU Microscopii is also simulated. We find that the neutral upper atmosphere of EGPs is not significantly affected by typical flares on HD 209458 and HD 189733. Therefore, stellar flares alone would not cause large enough changes in planetary mass loss to explain the variations in HD 189733b transit depth seen in previous studies, although we show that it may be possible that an extreme stellar proton event could result in the required mass loss. Our simulations do however reveal an enhancement in electron number density in the ionosphere of these planets, the peak of which is located in the layer where stellar X-rays are absorbed. Electron densities are found to reach 2.2 to 3.5 times pre-flare levels and enhanced electron densities last from about 3 to 10 h after the onset of the flare, depending on the composition of the ionospheric layer. The strength of the flare and the width of its spectral energy distribution affect the range of altitudes in the ionosphere that see enhancements in ionisation. A large broadband continuum component in the XUV portion of the flaring spectrum in very young flare stars, such as AU Mic, results in a broad range of altitudes a ff ected in planets orbiting this star. Indeed, as well as the X-ray absorption layer, the layer in which EUV photons are absorbed is also strongly enhanced.

Hot Jupiters receive strong stellar irradiation, producing equilibrium temperatures of 1000-2500 K. Incoming irradiation directly heats just their thin outer layer, down to pressures of similar to 0.1 bars. In standard irradiated evolution models of hot Jupiters, predicted transit radii are too small. Previous studies have shown that deeper heating-at a small fraction of the heating rate from irradiation-can explain observed radii. Here we present a suite of evolution models for HD 209458b, where we systematically vary both the depth and intensity of internal heating, without specifying the uncertain heating mechanism(s). Our models start with a hot, high-entropy planet whose radius decreases as the convective interior cools. The applied heating suppresses this cooling. We find that very shallow heating-at pressures of 1-10 bars-does not significantly suppress cooling, unless the total heating rate is greater than or similar to 10% of the incident stellar power. Deeper heating, at 100 bars, requires heating at only 1% of the stellar irradiation to explain the observed transit radius of 1.4R(Jup) after 5 Gyr of cooling. In general, more intense and deeper heating results in larger hot-Jupiter radii. Surprisingly, we find that heat deposited at 10(4) bars-which is exterior to approximate to 99% of the planet's mass-suppresses planetary cooling as effectively as heating at the center. In summary, we find that relatively shallow heating is required to explain the radii of most hot Jupiters, provided that this heat is applied early and persists throughout their evolution.