Centre for Exoplanet Science

Exoplanet atmospheres

Studying the composition and dynamics of exoplanet atmospheres.

The habitability of an exoplanet is partly determined by the composition and physics of its atmosphere. Researchers within the Centre are developing a suite of numerical models to better understand the relationship between stellar radiation from the host star, the planetary orbit, and the resulting atmospheric chemistry and physics. These models will be used eventually to interpret upcoming spectrally resolved data from new ground-based and space-borne telescopes. 

We are developing sub-models that describe surface processes (e.g. emissions, uptake of gases and particles) and atmospheric processes (e.g. transport and chemical and biological transformations of gases and particles) that are subsequently integrated into 1-D radiative-convection-photochemical models and global 3-D models of atmospheric chemistry and transport. We take our inspiration from a range of disciplines but are heavily influenced by processes that influenced the evolution of Earth's atmosphere.

Crescent moon rising and the cusp of Earth's atmosphere