Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0612413

From: Kristen Menou [view email]

Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:50:14 GMT (192kb)

Hot Jupiter Variability in Eclipse Depth

Authors: Emily Rauscher, Kristen Menou (Columbia), James Y-K. Cho (QM Univ. London), Sara Seager (Carnegie/DTM), Brad Hansen (UCLA)

Comments: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ Letters

Physical conditions in the atmospheres of tidally-locked, slowly-rotating hot Jupiters correspond to dynamical circulation regimes with Rhines scales and Rossby deformation radii comparable to the planetary radii. Consequently, the large spatial scales of moving atmospheric structures could generate significant photospheric variability. Here, we estimate the level of thermal infrared variability expected in successive secondary eclipse depths, according to hot Jupiter turbulent ``shallow-layer'' models. The variability, at the few percent level or more in models with strong enough winds, is within the reach of Spitzer measurements. Eclipse depth variability is thus a valuable tool to constrain the circulation regime and global wind speeds in hot Jupiter atmospheres.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0612413