Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

On The Composition Of Young, Directly Imaged Giant Planets, Julianne I. Moses, Mark S. Marley, K. Zahnle, M. R. Line, Jonathan J. Fortney, T. S. Barman, Channon Visscher, Nikole K. Lewis, M. J. Wolff

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The past decade has seen significant progress on the direct detection and characterization of young, self-luminous giant planets at wide orbital separations from their host stars. Some of these planets show evidence for disequilibrium processes like transport-induced quenching in their atmospheres; photochemistry may also be important, despite the large orbital distances. These disequilibrium chemical processes can alter the expected composition, spectral behavior, thermal structure, and cooling history of the planets, and can potentially confuse determinations of bulk elemental ratios, which provide important insights into planet-formation mechanisms. Using a thermo/photochemical kinetics and transport model, we investigate the extent to which disequilibrium …