Fully funded opportunity for bachelors and masters students to come work at MPIA in summer 2026!
21.12.2025 15:06
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Fully funded opportunity for bachelors and masters students to come work at MPIA in summer 2026!
Hi all! If you are looking for a conference in exoplanet interiors in 2026, check out "Layers of Understanding: Model Intercomparisons of Exoplanet Interiors": layersofunderstanding2026.github.io
It will take place in MPIA's campus in April 13-17th. The registration deadline is 15 January 2026
Great work everybody! 🙌
and Evie Ahrer @eahrer.bsky.social wrote a Nature comment on the JWST revolution for exoplanet atmospheres, from CO2 and photochemistry on gas giants to the push to smaller/cooler worlds www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Lorena Acuna @astrolore.bsky.social combined beautiful JWST spectra with mass and radius measurements for a warm Saturn, finding evidence for either a hot interior or a very small core - both unexpected! arxiv.org/abs/2511.13483
Lots of fun work out from APEx postdocs in the past week! first up was Sophia Vaughan @sophiavaughan.bsky.social on a deep search for reflected light from a hot Neptune w/ the VLT. This summed up light from ALL FOUR 8m telescopes over 2 nights- a preview of ELT-like data! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08691
Excited to speak this coming Tuesday at the DAI in Heidelberg! I'm hosting a panel discussion on life in the universe - from the origin of life on Earth, to how we could recognize it on other planets, to prospects for interstellar space travel. Tickets on sale now: dai-heidelberg.de/en/events/li...
Exoplanet atmosphere characterization is built on a foundation of lab data and chemistry. We need more reaction rates, cross sections, & line lists, at a broader range of conditions than the Solar System. Got together with Earth/planetary scientists to comment on this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
PhD opportunity here at MPIA to work with @paulmolliere.bsky.social !!
Incredible opportunity from the MPG to start your own research group!
APEx research focuses on exoplanet atmosphere characterization, from the ground and space. Small planets, big planets, transits, direct imaging, theoretical modeling (1D, 3D, interior), instrumentation (esp ground-based high-res) - we love it all!
We have job opportunities in the APEx department at MPIA - please spread the word!
Postdocs: aas.org/jobregister/...
Tenure-track staff: aas.org/jobregister/...
Max Planck Research Group Leaders: aas.org/jobregister/...
+ happy to host ERC, Humboldt, and other third-party funds.
The Rocky Worlds DDT has published our final target list. Join us for an information session on September 15 to learn more about the 9 targeted planets and the goals of the program.
🔭 #exoplanets
My money is on bare rock for both planets - this simple explanation fits the data well, no fine-tuning needed. This may disappoint some folks, but I think it's amazing that we can measure this at all!! if atmospheres are rare on rocky planets orbiting M-dwarfs, that is a profound thing to know.
There *are* still some atmospheres that are compatible with the data, but the parameter space is shrinking - can't have too high surface pressure (> 1 bar) or too much CO2 (> 100 ppm or so). These scenarios are a bit finely tuned - a bare rock or thick, Venus-like atmosphere are easier to produce.
Histograms of the dayside and nightside temperature constraints for TRAPPIST-1b and c. The nightside of both planets is consistent with zero, implying no evidence for heat redistribution by an atmosphere.
Now, we have a joint thermal phase curve for the planets, finding no significant heat redistribution from dayside to nightside. Here are the constraints on dayside and nightside temperature (K) for the planets. Dayside is red, nightside is blue, top row is planet b, and bottom row planet c.
Previous measurements of thermal emission from planet b were consistent with either a bare rock or a thermal inversion in a CO2-rich atmosphere (arxiv.org/abs/2412.11627). Planet c was best fit by a moderately reflective surface or a thin atmosphere with not too much CO2.
Update on the atmosphere vs no atmosphere debate for TRAPPIST-1 b and c -- here's a nice and (IMO) conclusive result from Gillon and Ducrot et al.: no thick atmosphere on either planet. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.02128
Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships: Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.
Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.
Our paper on PSO J318 is finally out 💪 . I want to thank all of my coauthors who made this study possible 🙇 !! It could be that we see the first cloud seeding nuclei forming at the top of the atmosphere…?
arxiv.org/abs/2507.18691
gorgeous new JWST spectrum of the rogue planet PSO J318 from @paulmolliere.bsky.social ! Strong absorption at 10 microns likely due to small SiO particles, acting as seeds for cloud formation arxiv.org/pdf/2507.18691
you did it!!!! 🙌
Compared to other planets in this temperature range, HD 86226c is surprisingly featureless ... indicative of either very high metallicity (which might have helped it survive in this intense irradiation environment), or high-altitude clouds. Or both!
Happy to share the first paper from the SPACE Program, led by my student Angelique Kahle! she observed a hot little sub-Neptune, HD 86226c (Rp = 2.3 Re; equilibrium temp = 1300 K). arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13439
The spectrum is *really* flat ! here's the amplitude compared to other gaseous planets.
@astroduncan.bsky.social did the impossible - he put magnetic fields in his models!! Check out this nice paper on how more realistic B fields impact hot Jupiter atmosphere circulation 🧲
Huge congratulations to @sophiavaughan.bsky.social for receiving the Michael Penston Prize from the RAS!!! Sophia is a pioneer in detecting reflected light from exoplanets. Congrats on this well-deserved recognition 😁🔭
Hi exoplaneteers! Please consider submitting an abstract for the Observation and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets session of this year's meeting of the German astronomical society (deadline is 31 July, you first need to register).
ag2025.astronomische-gesellschaft.de/view_splinte...
I had fun writing this with @stevensonanddone.bsky.social! thanks for being a great writing buddy!
Even though no atmospheres have been unequivocally detected, we're optimistic about the future! JWST's performance is excellent: with a larger sample of planets, more precise transmission spectra, and pushing to cooler targets, we are confident that atmospheres can be found (if they are there!).
The emission measurements are consistent with very hot daysides (ave. temp is 95% the maximum expected for a zero albedo bare rock). While some atmosphere scenarios are compatible with individual measurements, the ensemble of data is well fit by a simple picture where all the planets are bare rocks.