IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v468y2010i7324d10.1038_nature09596.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A ground-based transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b

Author

Listed:
  • Jacob L. Bean

    (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
    Institut für Astrophysik, Georg-August-Universität, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany)

  • Eliza Miller-Ricci Kempton

    (University of California)

  • Derek Homeier

    (Institut für Astrophysik, Georg-August-Universität, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany)

Abstract

Ground-based telescopes probe super-Earths For many extrasolar planets — such as 'hot Jupiters' — measurements of the mass and radius are sufficient to allow the calculation of the planet's density and infer their bulk composition. But for the rather smaller 'super-Earths', things get complicated. For instance, the mass and radius of the recently discovered transiting super-Earth GJ1214b are known, but three distinct models for the planet's composition are consistent with the data. Additional information on the composition of the atmosphere is required if the uncertainty is to be reduced. Now a method that provides just that has been developed. A team using the Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert has obtained a transmission spectrum for GJ1214b between 780 nanometres and 1,000 nanometres that rules out cloud-free atmospheres composed mainly of hydrogen. If the planet's atmosphere is hydrogen-dominated, it must be hazy — or there could be a dense water-vapour atmosphere. This new ground-based observing technique will make investigation of extrasolar planets much more practical, so expect more news of super-Earths in the months to come.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob L. Bean & Eliza Miller-Ricci Kempton & Derek Homeier, 2010. "A ground-based transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7324), pages 669-672, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:468:y:2010:i:7324:d:10.1038_nature09596
    DOI: 10.1038/nature09596
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09596
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature09596?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:468:y:2010:i:7324:d:10.1038_nature09596. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.