Journal
ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL
Volume 155, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aaaebc
Keywords
planets and satellites: atmospheres
Categories
Funding
- Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- Swiss-based MERAC Foundation
- Space Research and Planetary Sciences Division (WP) of the University of Bern
- Swiss National Science Foundation [PP00P2-163967]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [PP00P2_163967] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
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Recently acquired Hubble and Spitzer phase curves of the short-period hot Jupiter WASP-43b make it an ideal target for confronting theory with data. On the observational front, we re-analyze the 3.6 and 4.5 mu m Spitzer phase curves and demonstrate that our improved analysis better removes residual red noise due to intra-pixel sensitivity, which leads to greater fluxes emanating from the nightside of WASP-43b, thus reducing the tension between theory and data. On the theoretical front, we construct cloud-free and cloudy atmospheres of WASP-43b using our Global Circulation Model (GCM), THOR, which solves the non-hydrostatic Euler equations (compared to GCMs that typically solve the hydrostatic primitive equations). The cloud-free atmosphere produces a reasonable fit to the dayside emission spectrum. The multi-phase emission spectra constrain the cloud deck to be confined to the nightside and have a finite cloud-top pressure. The multi-wavelength phase curves are naturally consistent with our cloudy atmospheres, except for the 4.5 mu m phase curve, which requires the presence of enhanced carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of WASP-43b. Multi-phase emission spectra at higher spectral resolution, as may be obtained using the James Webb Space Telescope, and a reflected-light phase curve at visible wavelengths would further constrain the properties of clouds in WASP-43b.
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