# Mapping Exoplanets

## TL;DR

This paper discusses methods for mapping exoplanets by analyzing their thermal emission and albedo variations over time, providing insights into their atmospheres and potential surface features despite current observational limitations.

## Contribution

It reviews current techniques and future prospects for exo-cartography, enabling the study of exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres from afar.

## Key findings

- Maps of thermal emission and albedo have been constructed for short period giant exoplanets.
- These maps provide constraints on atmospheric dynamics and cloud patterns.
- Future methods may allow surface mapping of terrestrial exoplanets.

## Abstract

The varied surfaces and atmospheres of planets make them interesting places to live, explore, and study from afar. Unfortunately, the great distance to exoplanets makes it impossible to resolve their disk with current or near-term technology. It is still possible, however, to deduce spatial inhomogeneities in exoplanets provided that different regions are visible at different times -- this can be due to rotation, orbital motion, and occultations by a star, planet, or moon. Astronomers have so far constructed maps of thermal emission and albedo for short period giant exoplanets. These maps constrain atmospheric dynamics and cloud patterns in exotic atmospheres. In the future, exo-cartography could yield surface maps of terrestrial planets, hinting at the geophysical and geochemical processes that shape them.