Synonyms
Acronyms
HRS, HDS
Definition
High-resolution spectroscopy is an observational technique used to detect atomic lines and molecular bands in the atmospheres of exoplanets. It makes use of high-resolution spectrographs mounted on medium to large ground-based telescopes, e.g., VLT-CRIRES, ESO-3.6 m-HARPS, VLT-ESPRESSO, CAHA-CARMENES, TNG-HARPS-N & GIANO, and CFHT-SPiROU. A key advantage of this technique is that it enables atmospheric characterization from the ground by disentangling exoplanet signatures from telluric contamination by Earth’s atmosphere. The high spectral resolution (typically >50,000) separates spectral features originating in the stellar, planetary, and Earth atmospheres thanks to the different Doppler shifts involved. Moreover, it is possible to combine the signal from many individual spectral lines into a cross-correlation function with increased signal-to-noise ratio. This is particularly powerful for detecting molecular bands...
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References and Further Reading
Allart R, Bourrier V, Lovis C, Ehrenreich D, Spake JJ et al (2018) Spectrally resolved helium absorption from the extended atmosphere of a warm Neptune-mass exoplanet. Science 362:1384–1387. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat5879
Alonso-Floriano FJ, Sanchez-Lopez A, Snellen IAG, Lopez-Puertas M, Nagel E et al (2019) Multiple water band detections in the CARMENES near-infrared transmission spectrum of HD 189733 b. Astron Astrophys 621:A74. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201834339
Birkby JL, de Kok RJ, Brogi M, de Mooij EJW, Schwarz H et al (2013) Detection of water absorption in the day side atmosphere of HD 189733 b using ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy at 3.2μm. Monthly Notices R Astron Soc 436:L35–L39. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slt107
Brogi M, Snellen IAG, de Kok RJ, Albrecht S, Birkby J et al (2012) The signature of orbital motion from the dayside of the planet τ Boötis b. Nature 486(502):504. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11161
Ehrenreich D, Lovis C, Allart R, Zapatero Osorio MR, Pepe F et al (2020) Nightside condensation of iron in an ultrahot giant exoplanet. Nature 580(597):601. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2107-1
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Hoeijmakers HJ, Ehrenreich D, Heng K, Kitzmann D, Grimm SL et al (2018) Atomic iron and titanium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet KELT-9b. Nature 560:453–455. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0401-y
Louden T, Wheatley PJ (2015) Spatially resolved eastward winds and rotation of HD 189733b. Astrophys J 814:L24. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/814/2/L24
Lovis C, Snellen IAG, Mouillet D, Pepe F, Wildi F et al (2017) Atmospheric characterization of Proxima b by coupling the SPHERE high-contrast imager to the ESPRESSO spectrograph. Astron Astrophys 599:A16. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629682
Nortmann L, Pallé E, Salz M, Sanz-Forcada J, Nagel E et al (2018) Ground-based detection of an extended helium atmosphere in the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-69b. Science 362:1388–1391. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat5348
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Snellen IAG, de Kok R, Birkby JL, Brandl B, Brogi M et al (2015) Combining high-dispersion spectroscopy with high contrast imaging: probing rocky planets around our nearest neighbors. Astron Astrophys 576:A59. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425018
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Lovis, C. (2022). Planet Characterization: High-Resolution Spectroscopy. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5445-1
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