The exoplanet perspective on future ice giant exploration
Hannah R. Wakeford,Paul A. Dalba +1 more
TLDR
What characteristics the authors can measure for exoplanets are discussed, and why a mission to the ice giants in their solar system is the logical next step for understanding exoplanet understanding is discussed.Abstract:
Exoplanets number in their thousands, and the number is ever increasing with the advent of new surveys and improved instrumentation. One of the most surprising things we have learnt from these discoveries is not that small-rocky planets in their stars habitable zones are likely to be common, but that the most typical size of exoplanets is that not seen in our solar system-radii between that of Neptune and the Earth dubbed mini-Neptunes and super-Earths. In fact, a transiting exoplanet is four times as likely to be in this size regime than that of any giant planet in our solar system. Investigations into the atmospheres of giant hydrogen/helium dominated exoplanets has pushed down to Neptune and mini-Neptune-sized worlds revealing molecular absorption from water, scattering and opacity from clouds, and measurements of atmospheric abundances. However, unlike measurements of Jupiter, or even Saturn sized worlds, the smaller giants lack a ground truth on what to expect or interpret from their measurements. How did these sized worlds form and evolve and was it different from their larger counterparts? What is their internal composition and how does that impact their atmosphere? What informs the energy budget of these distant worlds? In this we discuss what characteristics we can measure for exoplanets, and why a mission to the ice giants in our solar system is the logical next step for understanding exoplanets. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Future exploration of ice giant systems'.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The nature and origins of sub-Neptune size planets
TL;DR: In this paper, a bimodality in the radius distribution of these objects was revealed, with a relative underabundance of planets between 1.5 and 2.0 $R_{\oplus}$.
Journal ArticleDOI
Science Goals and Mission Objectives for the Future Exploration of Ice Giants Systems: A Horizon 2061 Perspective
Michel Blanc,Michel Blanc,Kathleen Mandt,Olivier Mousis,Nicolas André,Alexis Bouquet,Sébastien Charnoz,Kathleen L. Craft,Magali Deleuil,Léa Griton,Ravit Helled,Ricardo Hueso,L. Lamy,L. Lamy,Corentin Louis,Jonathan I. Lunine,Thomas Ronnet,J. Schmidt,Krista M. Soderlund,Diego Turrini,Elizabeth P. Turtle,Pierre Vernazza,Olivier Witasse +22 more
TL;DR: It is shown that a long-term plan for the space exploration of ice giants and their systems will greatly contribute to answer these questions, and an optimized choice of platforms and flight sequences makes it possible to address a broad range of the key science questions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ice giant system exploration in the 2020s: an introduction.
Leigh N. Fletcher,Amy Simon,Mark Hofstadter,Chris S. Arridge,Ian J. Cohen,Adam Masters,Kathleen Mandt,Athena Coustenis +7 more
TL;DR: The international planetary science community met in London in January 2020, united in the goal of realizing the first dedicated robotic mission to the distant ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, as the only major class of solar system planet yet to be comprehensively explored.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ice Giant System Exploration in the 2020s: An Introduction
Leigh N. Fletcher,Amy Simon,Mark Hofstadter,Chris S. Arridge,Ian J. Cohen,Adam Masters,Kathleen Mandt,Athena Coustenis +7 more
TL;DR: The scientific potential and existing mission design concepts for an ambitious international partnership for exploring Uranus and/or Neptune in the coming decades are reviewed.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the Utility of Transmission Color Analysis I: Differentiating Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes
Kristin S. Sotzen,Kevin B. Stevenson,E. M. May,Natasha E. Batalha,Noam R. Izenberg,Sarah M. Hörst,Calley L. Tinsman,Carey M. Lisse,Nikole K. Lewis,Jayesh M. Goyal,Joseph J. Linden,Kathleen Mandt +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the use of transmission color photometric analysis for efficient, coarse categorization of exoplanets and assessing the nature of these worlds, with a focus on resolving the bulk composition degeneracy to aid in discriminating super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.
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