2/10/2020

I will present a new analysis of the high resolution spectrum of WASP-49b using Terminator, a code developed to spatially resolve the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Simulations of hot Jupiters with GCM's predict the presence of a strong equatorial jet, as well as a day-to-night flow. Without spatial resolution, it is only possible to measure a global average velocity of the planet, and hence it is not possible to disentangle these contributions.
Transit Limb Scanning makes it possible to spatially resolve the atmosphere of an exoplanet during transit, by modelling the differential weighting of the contributions of different regions of the planet's atmosphere during transit. This technique was first used in Louden Wheatley 2015 to spatially resolve the atmosphere of the hot Jupiter HD 189733b and detect the presence of an equatorial jet. Here, I build upon this technique and show that it is also possible to separate out contributions from polar and equatorial regions of the planet. I will also discuss how this technique can be used even at lower resolution with JWST to map the location of clouds around the terminators of exoplanets, and the implications for cloud formation models.