Cloudiness and Apparent Rotation Rate of Earth-like Planets

Pallé, E.; Montañś-Rodríguez, P.; Vazquez, M.; Ford, E. B.; Seager, S.
Bibliographical reference

Extreme Solar Systems, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 398, proceedings of the conference held 25-29 June, 2007, at Santorini Island, Greece. Edited by D. Fischer, F. A. Rasio, S. E. Thorsett, and A. Wolszczan, p.399

Advertised on:
0
2008
Number of authors
5
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
1
Refereed citations
0
Description
If we were to observe the light reflected from an extrasolar planet, the portion of the planet reflecting starlight toward us would change due to rotation and orbital motion. Reflected light will come from the planet's surface, but also from the clouds and atmosphere. It is possible that these two planetary components have different rotation speeds, and the presence of clouds might result in so much variability that complicates efforts to determine its rotational period. Here we show how the differential rotation of the atmosphere/clouds is detectable even on Earth for certain observing geometries.