Astro-APEX Special Seminar: Exoplanetary Atmospheres in 3D

We are happy to announce a special Astrobiology and Planetary Exploration (APEX) online seminar, co-hosted with the UCL Astrophysics Group, on Wednesday 21 April at 4pm, featuring the following talk:

• Dr Nathan Mayne (Exeter) - Exoplanetary Atmospheres in 3D: implications from radiation-chemistry(cloud)-hydrodynamics simulations   

The joining details for the meeting will be circulated to our usual mailing lists nearer the time. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Abstract

In this presentation I will detail some of our efforts to apply 3D climate models to the study of exoplanets. Firstly, I will give a brief overview of the observations and the key questions they pose, before detailing the approach we have adopted at the Exeter Exoplanet Theory Group. Our studies are based on the UK Met Office 3D model, termed the Unified Model, and I will briefly describe the development environment before presenting some of the physical applications. Starting with gas giant planets, and particularly hot Jupiters, I will show how the atmospheric flows act to move the large scale structure, chemical state and observations away from that predicted through equilibrium and/or 1D considerations. Time permitting, I will very briefly show results from state-of-the-art 3D simulations of gas giants including clouds, before finishing with applications to terrestrial exoplanets, exploring the importance of convection, and how it is treated, in setting the overall climate of tidally-locked planets.