Watch: Dec.1 Prof. Thibault Cavalié: Millimeter observations and modeling of chemistry and dynamics in Giant Planet atmospheres with a focus on Jupiter
Speaker: Dr. Thibault Cavali
Bordeaux Astrophysics Laboratory
Dec. 1, 2022
4:00 pm GMT +8
Better understanding Solar System Giant Planet formation and evolution requires in situ measurements, remote sensing observations either with telescopes or planetary missions, and modeling. While more and more exoplanets are discovered every day and while we will better characterize them with new observatories like JWST, the planets of the Solar System remain our local laboratory for studying formation and evolution of such bodies. The (sub)millimeter domain, owing to the very high spectral resolution of the heterodyne technique and to the ever-increasing spatial resolution and sensitivity of new observatories like ALMA, is suitable for determining planetary atmospheric composition and dynamics when coupled with appropriate radiative transfer, photochemical or thermochemical modeling.
In this webinar, I will show how recent observations and models shed new light on the composition and chemistry of Giant Planet atmospheres, and how they can be altered by seasons and external sources. With ALMA, it is now even possible to directly measure winds in the stratospheres of the Giant Planets to constrain their stratospheric circulation. I will make a focus on recent ALMA observations of Jupiter to illustrate these different aspects. Finally, I will present how the Submillimetre Wave Instrument of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission will allow us, in about a decade from now, to monitor Jupiter's atmosphere, both in terms of chemistry and dynamics, and with spectral and spatial resolutions and temporal coverage never achieved before.
About the Speaker
Thibault Cavali is a CNRS scientist at the Bordeaux Astrophysics Laboratory. He earned a PhD in Astrophysics in 2008, and was hired by CNRS at the Laboratory for Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics of the Paris Observatory in 2015. He moved to Bordeaux in 2018.
T. Cavali research interest concerns the formation and evolution of the Giant Planets of the Solar System. He is an expert in millimeter and submillimeter observations and radiative transfer of these planets, and in chemical modeling of their atmospheres. He is the PI of several earth- and space-based observation projects (e.g., Herschel, ALMA). He is the co-I of the Submillimetre Wave Instrument of ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and the co-lead of ESA’s JUICE working group on Jupiter’s atmosphere.
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