The effect of stellar contamination on low-resolution transmission spectroscopy: needs identified by NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Study Analysis Group 21
Additional information
Authors
Rackham B. V. .,
Espinoza N.,
Berdyugina S.,
Korhonen H.,
MacDonald R. J. .,
Montet B. T. .,
Morris B. M. .,
Oshagh M.,
Shapiro A. I. .,
Unruh Y. C. .,
Quintana E. V. .,
Zellem R. T. .,
Apai D.,
Barclay T.,
Barstow J. K. .,
Bruno G.,
Carone L.,
Casewell S. L. .,
Cegla H. M. .,
Criscuoli S.,
Fischer C.,
Fournier D.,
Giampapa M. S. .,
Giles H.,
Iyer A.,
Kopp G.,
Kostogryz N. M. .,
Krivova N.,
Mallonn M.,
McGruder C.,
Molaverdikhani K.,
Newton E. R. .,
Panja M.,
Peacock S.,
Reardon K.,
Roettenbacher R. M. .,
Scandariato G.,
Solanki S.,
Stassun K. G. .,
Steiner O.,
Stevenson K. B. .,
Tregloan-Reed J.,
Valio A.,
Wedemeyer S.,
Welbanks L.,
Yu J.,
Alam M. K. .,
Davenport J. R. A. .,
Deming D.,
Dong C.,
Ducrot E.,
Fisher C.,
Gilbert E.,
Kostov V.,
López-Morales M.,
Line M.,
Močnik T.,
Mullally S.,
Paudel R. R. .,
Ribas I.,
Valenti J. A. .
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
Language
English
Abstract
Study Analysis Group 21 (SAG21) of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration ProgramAnalysis Group was organized to study the effect of stellarcontamination on space-based transmission spectroscopy, a methodfor studying exoplanetary atmospheres by measuring thewavelength-dependent radius of a planet as it transits its star.Transmission spectroscopy relies on a precise understanding ofthe spectrum of the star being occulted. However, stars are nothomogeneous, constant light sources but have temporally evolvingphotospheres and chromospheres with inhomogeneities like spots,faculae, plages, granules, and flares. This SAG brought togetheran interdisciplinary team of more than 100 scientists, withobservers and theorists from the heliophysics, stellarastrophysics, planetary science, and exoplanetary atmosphereresearch communities, to study the current research needs thatcan be addressed in this context to make the most of transitstudies from current NASA facilities like Hubble Space Telescopeand JWST. The analysis produced 14 findings, which fall intothree science themes encompassing (i) how the Sun is used as ourbest laboratory to calibrate our understanding of stellarheterogeneities ('The Sun as the Stellar Benchmark'), (ii) howstars other than the Sun extend our knowledge of heterogeneities('Surface Heterogeneities of Other Stars'), and (iii) how toincorporate information gathered for the Sun and other starsinto transit studies ('Mapping Stellar Knowledge to TransitStudies'). In this invited review, we largely reproduce thefinal report of SAG21 as a contribution to the peer-reviewedliterature.
Journal
RAS Techniques and Instruments
Volume
2
Number
1
Start page number
148
End page number
206
