Hydrodynamic Simulations of Unevenly Irradiated Jovian Planets

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamic simulations to analyze the atmospheric dynamics and infrared light curves of highly eccentric Jovian exoplanets, revealing common features driven by intense periastron irradiation and identifying prime observational targets.

Contribution

Introduces a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model tailored for eccentric exoplanets, providing new insights into their atmospheric behavior and infrared signatures.

Findings

Atmospheric response is driven by periastron irradiation.

High-velocity turbulent flows and circumpolar vortices form.

Infrared light curves are detectable with Spitzer for key targets.

Abstract

We employ a two-dimensional grid-based hydrodynamic model to simulate upper atmospheric dynamics on extrasolar giant planets. Our model is well-suited to simulate the dynamics of the atmospheres of planets with high orbital eccentricity that are subject to widely-varying irradiation conditions. We identify six such planets, with eccentricities between $e=0.28$ and $e=0.93$ and semimajor axes ranging from $a=0.0508$ A.U. to $a=0.432$ A.U., as particularly interesting objects for study. For each of these planets, we determine the temperature profile and resulting infrared light curves in the 8-$\mu$m Spitzer bands. Especially notable are the results for HD 80606b, which has the largest eccentricity ($e=0.9321$) of any known planet, and HAT-P-2b, which transits its parent star, so that its physical properties are well-constrained. Despite the variety of orbital parameters, the atmospheric dynamics of these eccentric planets display a number of interesting common properties. In all cases, the atmospheric response is primarily driven by the intense irradiation at periastron. The resulting expansion of heated air produces high-velocity turbulent flow, including long-lived circumpolar vortices. Additionally, a superrotating acoustic front develops on some planets; the strength of this disturbance depends on both the eccentricity and the temperature gradient resulting from uneven heating. The specifics of the resulting infrared light curves depend strongly on the orbital geometry. We show, however, that the variations on HD 80606 b and HAT-P-2b should be readily detectable at 4.5 and 8 $\mu$m using the Spitzer Space Telescope. Indeed, these two objects present the most attractive observational targets of all known high-$e$ exoplanets.