POSEIDON: a multidimensional atmospheric retrieval code for exoplanet spectra

Ryan J. MacDonald

doi:10.21105/joss.04873

POSEIDON: a multidimensional atmospheric retrieval code for exoplanet spectra

Ryan J. MacDonald^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Exoplanet atmospheres are a dynamic and fast-changing field at the frontier of modern astronomy. Telescope observations can reveal the chemical composition, temperature, cloud properties, and (potentially) the habitability of these remote worlds. Astronomers can measure these atmospheric properties by observing how the fraction of starlight blocked by a planet passing in front of its host star changes with wavelength — a technique called transmission spectroscopy. Since the wavelengths where different atoms and molecules absorb are already known (from laboratory measurements or quantum mechanics), astronomers can compare models of exoplanet spectra to observations to infer the chemical composition of exoplanets.

POSEIDON is a Python package for the modelling and analysis of exoplanet spectra. POSEIDON has two main functions: (i) computation of model spectra for 1D, 2D, or 3D exoplanet atmospheres; and (ii) a Bayesian fitting routine (‘atmospheric retrieval’) that can infer the range of atmospheric properties consistent with an observed exoplanet spectrum.

Original language	English
Article number	4873
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Open Source Software
Volume	8
Issue number	81
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.04873
Publication status	Published - 13 Jan 2023

Keywords

Exoplanets
Exoplanet atmospheres
Atmospheric retrieval
Bayesian statistics
Python
Open source software
JWST
Spectroscopy

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© 2023 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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1 Article

TRIDENT: a rapid 3D radiative-transfer model for exoplanet transmission spectra
MacDonald, R. J. & Lewis, N. K., 10 Apr 2022, In: The Astrophysical Journal. 929, 1, 32 p., 20.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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title = "POSEIDON: a multidimensional atmospheric retrieval code for exoplanet spectra",

abstract = "Exoplanet atmospheres are a dynamic and fast-changing field at the frontier of modern astronomy. Telescope observations can reveal the chemical composition, temperature, cloud properties, and (potentially) the habitability of these remote worlds. Astronomers can measure these atmospheric properties by observing how the fraction of starlight blocked by a planet passing in front of its host star changes with wavelength — a technique called transmission spectroscopy. Since the wavelengths where different atoms and molecules absorb are already known (from laboratory measurements or quantum mechanics), astronomers can compare models of exoplanet spectra to observations to infer the chemical composition of exoplanets.POSEIDON is a Python package for the modelling and analysis of exoplanet spectra. POSEIDON has two main functions: (i) computation of model spectra for 1D, 2D, or 3D exoplanet atmospheres; and (ii) a Bayesian fitting routine ({\textquoteleft}atmospheric retrieval{\textquoteright}) that can infer the range of atmospheric properties consistent with an observed exoplanet spectrum.",

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author = "MacDonald, {Ryan J.}",

note = "Funding: RJM acknowledges financial support from the UK{\textquoteright}s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) during the early development of POSEIDON and support from NASA Grant 80NSSC20K0586 issued through the James Webb Space Telescope Guaranteed Time Observer Program. Most recently, RJM acknowledges support from NASA through the NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51513.001 awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract NAS5-26555.",

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N2 - Exoplanet atmospheres are a dynamic and fast-changing field at the frontier of modern astronomy. Telescope observations can reveal the chemical composition, temperature, cloud properties, and (potentially) the habitability of these remote worlds. Astronomers can measure these atmospheric properties by observing how the fraction of starlight blocked by a planet passing in front of its host star changes with wavelength — a technique called transmission spectroscopy. Since the wavelengths where different atoms and molecules absorb are already known (from laboratory measurements or quantum mechanics), astronomers can compare models of exoplanet spectra to observations to infer the chemical composition of exoplanets.POSEIDON is a Python package for the modelling and analysis of exoplanet spectra. POSEIDON has two main functions: (i) computation of model spectra for 1D, 2D, or 3D exoplanet atmospheres; and (ii) a Bayesian fitting routine (‘atmospheric retrieval’) that can infer the range of atmospheric properties consistent with an observed exoplanet spectrum.

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KW - Atmospheric retrieval

KW - Bayesian statistics

KW - Python

KW - Open source software

KW - JWST

KW - Spectroscopy

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JO - Journal of Open Source Software

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ER -

POSEIDON: a multidimensional atmospheric retrieval code for exoplanet spectra

Abstract

Keywords

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Research output

TRIDENT: a rapid 3D radiative-transfer model for exoplanet transmission spectra

Cite this