dc.contributor.author |
Marley, Mark S |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Sengupta, S |
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2011-08-08T19:43:59Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2011-08-08T19:43:59Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2011-11 |
|
dc.identifier.citation |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 417, No. 4, pp. 2874–2881 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2248/5542 |
|
dc.description |
Open Access |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
It is becoming clear that the atmospheres of the young, self-luminous extrasolar gi-
ant planets imaged to date are dusty. Planets with dusty atmospheres may exhibit
detectable amounts of linear polarization in the near-infrared, as has been observed
from some eld L dwarfs. The asymmetry required in the thermal radiation eld to
produce polarization may arise either from the rotation-induced oblateness or from
surface inhomogeneities, such as partial cloudiness. While it is not possible at present
to predict the extent to which atmospheric dynamics on a given planet may produce
surface inhomogeneities substantial enough to produce net non-zero disk integrated
polarization, the contribution of rotation-induced oblateness can be estimated. Using
a self-consistent, spatially homogeneous atmospheric model and a multiple scatter-
ing polarization formalism for this class of exoplanets, we show that polarization on
the order of 1% may arise due to the rotation-induced oblateness of the planets. The
observed polarization may be even higher if surface inhomogeneities exist and play
a signi catnt role. Polarized radiation from self-luminous gas giant exoplanets, if de-
tected, provides an additional tool to characterize these young planets and a new
method to constrain their surface gravity and masses. |
en |
dc.language.iso |
en |
en |
dc.publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell |
en |
dc.relation.uri |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19448.x |
en |
dc.relation.uri |
http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.0492 |
|
dc.rights |
© Wiley-Blackwell |
en |
dc.subject |
Polarization |
en |
dc.subject |
Scattering |
en |
dc.subject |
Planets and Satellites:Atmospheres |
en |
dc.subject |
Stars:Atmosphere |
en |
dc.title |
Probing the physical properties of directly imaged gas giant exoplanets through polarization |
en |
dc.type |
Article |
en |