Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Astronomy

Ozone-like layer in an exoplanet atmosphere

Nature volume 548, pages 38–39 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

The nature of exoplanetary atmospheres is hotly debated. The thermal spectrum of an exoplanet called a hot Jupiter reveals the presence of an analogue of Earth's ozone layer, although its composition is unknown. See Letter p.58

Deciphering the chemical properties of atmospheres using remote sensing is the next frontier in exoplanetary science1. Short of mastering interstellar travel, it is the only conceivable path towards probing whether exoplanets are habitable or inhabited2. Hot Jupiters are a class of exoplanet with a size comparable to that of Jupiter and short orbital periods (of typically several days). Such features make hot Jupiters a good starting point for astronomers to hone their observational and theoretical techniques as they work their way towards examining smaller exoplanets that have cooler atmospheres. On page 58, Evans et al.3 report the detection of water in the thermal spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-121b. The discovery suggests that WASP-121b contains an analogue of Earth's ozone layer, causing the exoplanet's atmosphere to feature a temperature inversion — in which temperature increases with altitude.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Atmospheric temperature inversion.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Deming, L. D. & Seager, S. J. Geophys. Res. 122, 53–75 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Seager, S. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 12634–12640 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Evans, T. M. et al. Nature 548, 58–61 (2017).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Fortney, J. J., Lodders, K., Marley, M. S. & Freedman, R. S. Astrophys. J. 678, 1419–1435 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Sharp, C. M. & Burrows, A. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 168, 140–166 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kirkpatrick, J. D. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 43, 195–245 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Showman, A. P. & Guillot, T. Astron. Astrophys. 385, 166–180 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Désert, J.-M. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 492, 585–592 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Haynes, K., Mandell, A. M., Madhusudhan, N., Deming, D. & Knutson, H. Astrophys. J. 806, 146 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Evans, T. M. et al. Astrophys. J. 822, L4 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mancini, L. et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 461, 1053–1061 (2016).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Burrows, A., Hubeny, I., Budaj, J., Knutson, H. A. & Charbonneau, D. Astrophys. J. 668, L171–L174 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Harrington, J., Luszcz, S., Seager, S., Deming, D. & Richardson, L. J. Nature 447, 691–693 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Knutson, H. A., Charbonneau, D., Allen, L. E., Burrows, A. & Megeath, S. T. Astrophys. J. 673, 526–531 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Charbonneau, D. et al. Astrophys. J. 686, 1341–1348 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Madhusudhan, N. & Seager, S. Astrophys. J. 707, 24–39 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Stevenson, K. B. et al. Astrophys. J. 754, 136 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Line, M. R., Knutson, H., Wolf, A. S. & Yung, Y. L. Astrophys. J. 783, 70 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Diamond-Lowe, H., Stevenson, K. B., Bean, J. L., Line, M. R. & Fortney, J. J. Astrophys. J. 796, 66 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Madhusudhan, N. Astrophys. J. 758, 36 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Bern, 3012, Switzerland

    Kevin Heng

Authors
  1. Kevin Heng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Heng.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Astronomy: Earth's seven sisters

Exoplanets: Migration of giants

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Heng, K. Ozone-like layer in an exoplanet atmosphere. Nature 548, 38–39 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/548038b

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/548038b

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing