Colloquium
Models aid observations to understand the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres
Abstract
In the last years, ground-based and space observations are bringing a wealth of constraints on the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. Chemical models are particularly useful because they provide the theoretical framework to interpret these observations and make new predictions. I will describe how such models are built and discuss some recent efforts aimed to provide a more accurate description of the atmospheric composition, with emphasis on the mutual influence of temperature and disequilibrium composition, the quantification of abundance uncertainties, and the variation of the composition as a function of longitude.
About the talk
CSIC
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About the speaker
Dr. Marcelino Agúndez obtained the Bachelor in Chemistry from the Universidad de Valladolid in 2003 and the PhD in Astrophysics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2009 under the supervision of Prof. J. Cernicharo. From 2009 to 2014 he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Observatories of Paris-Meudon and Bordeaux, and in 2015 he obtained a Ramón y Cajal fellowship at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC). From 2021 he holds a permanent position as Científico Titular at the Instituto de Física Fundamental (CSIC).
His research interests cover the chemistry of interstellar clouds, circumstellar envelopes around evolved stars, protoplanetary disks, and exoplanet atmospheres. To that purpose he mainly uses radioastronomical observations and develops models of radiative transfer and chemistry.