Ariel Planetary Interiors White Paper

TL;DR

This white paper discusses how the Ariel mission's atmospheric data, combined with mass and radius measurements, will advance understanding of exoplanet interiors and compositions, highlighting ongoing activities and future challenges.

Contribution

It outlines the activities and future needs of the Ariel mission's interior working group for linking atmospheric data to planetary interiors.

Findings

Ariel will provide extensive atmospheric measurements of exoplanets.

Combining atmospheric data with mass and radius enhances interior characterization.

Identifies key theoretical challenges in connecting atmospheres to interiors.

Abstract

The recently adopted Ariel ESA mission will measure the atmospheric composition of a large number of exoplanets. This information will then be used to better constrain planetary bulk compositions. While the connection between the composition of a planetary atmosphere and the bulk interior is still being investigated, the combination of the atmospheric composition with the measured mass and radius of exoplanets will push the field of exoplanet characterisation to the next level, and provide new insights of the nature of planets in our galaxy. In this white paper, we outline the ongoing activities of the interior working group of the {\it Ariel} mission, and list the desirable theoretical developments as well as the challenges in linking planetary atmospheres, bulk composition and interior structure.