Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluating Climate Variability Of The Canonical Hot-Jupiters Hd 189733b And Hd 209458b Through Multi-Epoch Eclipse Observations, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Tiffany Kataria, Nikole K. Lewis, Robert T. Zellem, Gregory W. Henry, Nicolas B. Cowan, Julien De Wit, Jonathan J. Fortney, Heather Knutson, Sara Seager, Adam P. Showman, Gregory S. Tucker

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

Here we present the analysis of multi-epoch secondary eclipse observations of HD 189733b and HD 209458b as a probe of temporal variability in the planetary climate using both Spitzer channels 1 and 2 (3.6 and 4.5 μm). We expect hot-Jupiter atmospheres to be dynamic environments exhibiting time varying weather. However, it is uncertain to what extent temporal variability will be observable when considering disk integrated observations. We do not detect statistically significant variability and are able to place useful upper limits on the infrared variability amplitudes in these atmospheres. There are very few planets with multi-epoch observations at the required …