ets), or appeared as secondary atmospheres created from outgassing or
collisions with other bodies after the
planets formed.
Over the last few years, our group has
started exploring exoplanet atmospheres by making differential spectroscopic observations of exoplanets
passing in front of their host suns (see
details on this technique starting on
page 11). These ground-based transit
observations yield spectra (and thus
clues to the composition of exoplanet
atmospheres) with precisions that rival
those taken with space telescopes.
Using GMOS to Probe
WASP-12b: A Hot Exoplanet
Prototype
One exoplanet that has long fascinated
us is WASP-12b. This hot, Jupiter-sized
planet orbits its Sun-like (G0) parent star
every 26 hours. Recent work has suggested that this highly-irradiated exoplanet could have a carbo