Jupiter Atmospheric Models and Outer Boundary Conditions for Giant Planet Evolutionary Calculations

TL;DR

This paper introduces updated atmospheric boundary condition tables for modeling Jupiter and similar exoplanets, calibrated against actual Jupiter data, enabling more accurate planetary evolution simulations including complex interior structures.

Contribution

The authors develop and calibrate new atmospheric tables using radiative transfer models, improving the accuracy of giant planet evolution calculations and allowing customization for various planetary parameters.

Findings

Model matches Jupiter's observed temperature and radius within 2%

Calibrated boundary conditions improve planetary evolution simulations

Applicable to exoplanets with complex interior profiles

Abstract

We present updated atmospheric tables suitable for calculating the post-formation evolution and cooling of Jupiter and Jupiter-like exoplanets. These tables are generated using a 1D radiative transfer modeling code that incorporates the latest opacities and realistic prescriptions for stellar irradiation and ammonia clouds. To ensure the accuracy of our model parameters, we calibrate them against the measured temperature structure and geometric albedo spectrum of Jupiter, its effective temperature, and its inferred internal temperature. As a test case, we calculate the cooling history of Jupiter using an adiabatic and homogeneous interior and compare with extant models now used to evolve Jupiter and the giant planets. We find that our model reasonably matches Jupiter after evolving a hot-start initial condition to the present age of the solar system, with a discrepancy in brightness temperature/radius within two per cent. Our algorithm allows us to customize for different cloud, irradiation, and metallicity parameters. This class of boundary conditions can be used to study the evolution of solar-system giant planets and exoplanets with more complicated interior structures and non-adiabatic, inhomogeneous internal profiles.