Seminars at FGG
Characterization of Exoplanetary Atmospheres at High-Resolution with GIANO-B
Speaker: Mario Basilicata (Universita' Tor Vergata (Roma, Italy))
Date and time: 2023-03-06 11:30
The existence of more than 5200 exoplanets is confirmed to date. The majority of them has orbital and physical characteristics that are different from the ones of the Solar-system planets. This is the case, for example, of hot Neptunes and hot Jupiters, which are giant planets with a mass of the order of the Neptune and Jupiter mass, respectively, but with orbital periods P < 10 days. The existence of such planets so close to their host stars challenges the current planetary formation models but provides a special opportunity to study atmospheric physical and chemical conditions that can not be studied in the Solar system. In the last 10 years, the High-Resolution Doppler Spectroscopy Technique proved to be a valid technique to discover the presence of chemical species in the atmosphere of giant planets as well as to characterize the physical properties of such atmospheres, like the temperature-pressure profile and the presence of clouds. In this talk I will describe the ideas at the base of this technique and I will show you the first multiple-molecular species detection in the atmosphere of an exo-Neptune (HAT-P-11b) obtained with GIANO-B, underlying the importance of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the study of exoplanetary atmospheres.