Study Programmes 2015-2016
SPAT0056-1  
Planetary and exoplanetary atmospheres
Duration :
30h Th, 15h Pr
Number of credits :
Master in space sciences (120 ECTS)5
Lecturer :
Jean-Claude Gérard, Denis Grodent
Coordinator :
Denis Grodent
Language(s) of instruction :
English language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
The course SPAT0055 was based on a detailed study of the atmosphere of the Earth. It made it possible to introduce several basic concepts of atmospheric physics. The present course moves in the same way and extends the scope of these laws of physics to the atmosphere of other planets of the solar system and to exoplanets. Differences in planetary atmospheres are directly owing to their formation and thus to the formation of the solar (stellar) system. The case of exoplanets allows us to explore more exotic atmospheres.

I. Introduction - Recaps
- The new solar system
- Definitions
- Titius-Bode's Law
- Planets of the solar system
- Planetary orbits and rotations
- Coordinate systems
- Planetary configurations
- Kepler's Law
- The N-body problem (N=1,2,3)
- Tides
- Roche's limit
- N >3 perturbation of orbits and resonance
- Energy sources of planets


II. Formation and evolution of the solar system
- Review of theories
- Standard model
- Evolutionary processes
- Escape and erosion
- Impacts
- Surface Processes


III. Telluric planets
- Thermal structure
- Radiative transfer
- Photochemistry of CO2 atmospheres
- Ionosphere of CO2 atmospheres
- Mars, composition, climate, magnetic field, dynamics
- Earth : evolution of climate and of chemical composition 


IV. Giant planets
- Thermal structure
- Radiative transfer
- Photochemistry of H2 atmospheres
- Ionosphere of H2 atmospheres
- Jupiter and its satellites, composition, climate, magnetosphere, dynamics
- Saturn and its satellites, composition, climate, magnetosphere, dynamics
- Uranus and Neptune


V. Extrasolar planets
- Detection of exoplanets and their atmosphere
- Radial Velocity method, Doppler effect
- Astrometric method
- Micro-lense and Timing methods
- Transit method
- Futur observatories
- Characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of the course, students should be able to explain how the formation of the solar system influenced the atmospheric structure and composition of the different planets. They should be able to show that these planetary atmospheres evolved in different ways and that the emergence of life on Earth has had an dramatic effect on its atmosphere. The field of exoplanetary atmospheres is just starting. The students will become familiar with current detection methods and understand their limitations for deriving atmospheric information.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
This course is a sequel to course SPAT0055 (or SPAT0048)
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Recommended or required readings :
PDF versions of the powepoint presentations may be downloaded from the MyULg website.
 
Reference books/papers:
« An Introduction to Planetary Atmospheres » A. Sanchez-Lavega, CRC Press, 2011
« Atmosphères planétaires Origine et évolution » Th. Encrenaz, Belin, 2000
« The Exoplanet handbook » M. Perryman, Cambridge, 2011
« Exoplanet Atmospheres » Seager & Deming, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 2010. 48:631-672
 
Assessment methods and criteria :
Regular oral examination and presentation of a personal work. The latter consists in the analysis of a scientific paper directly related to the course. It should be chosen in agreement with the instructors and will be  evaluated.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Contacts :
d.grodent@ulg.ac.be
jc.gerard@ulg.ac.be