On Atmospheric Retrievals of Exoplanets with Inhomogeneous Terminators
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Peer-reviewed
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Abstract
The complexity of atmospheric retrieval models is largely data-driven and
one-dimensional models have generally been considered adequate with current
data quality. However, recent studies have suggested that using 1D models in
retrievals can result in anomalously cool terminator temperatures and biased
abundance estimates even with existing transmission spectra of hot Jupiters.
Motivated by these claims and upcoming high-quality transmission spectra we
systematically explore the limitations of 1D models using synthetic and current
observations. We use 1D models of varying complexity, both analytic and
numerical, to revisit claims of biases when interpreting transmission spectra
of hot Jupiters with inhomogeneous terminator compositions. Overall, we find
the reported biases to be resulting from specific model assumptions rather than
intrinsic limitations of 1D atmospheric models in retrieving current
observations of asymmetric terminators. Additionally, we revise atmospheric
retrievals of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b (
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1538-4357