Title: The Game's Afoot! First Results From JWST's Observations of Exoplanet Atmospheres

Abstract: The next few years promise a revolution in our knowledge of exoplanet atmospheres, and, hopefully, a concurrent improvement in our understanding of planetary formation and habitability. Over the last decade, spectroscopic characterization observations using HST have obtained precise water abundances for several exoplanets. Observations from JWST will allow us to extend this to spectroscopically identify the other major constituents expected in exoplanet atmospheres: methane, carbon monoxide and dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, and others. For the first time, this will give us a roughly complete accounting of the carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen abundances in these atmospheres. JWST data will also show us second-order, 2D effects, in exoplanet atmospheres through eclipse mapping and asymmetric transits. I will discuss the initial results from the MANATEE survey of exoplanet atmospheres, showing our first constraints on many of these molecules and abundances in a set of Jupiter- and Neptune-sized exoplanets. I will illustrate how we expect these first results will inform our estimates for how these planets formed, and I will discuss our first constraints on the 2D properties of these atmospheres.

Astro Colloquium and 'coffee & cookies' department gathering (3:45-4:00pm)

Please click the link to join virtually: https://psu.zoom.us/j/92637070419