00-071

Cover Page/Proposal Summary

ROSS-99    NRA 99-OSS-01

Date Due: 5/3/99

NASA PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING PROPOSALS

This proposal shall be used and disclosed for evaluation purposes only, and a copy of this Government notice shall be applied to any reproduction or abstract thereof. Any authorized restrictive notices that the submitter places on this proposal shall also be strictly complied with. Disclosure of this proposal for any reason outside the Government evaluation purposes shall be made only to the extent authorized by the Government.

Proposal Type: New Proposal

Proposal Category: Atmosphere Structures and Particles

Major Equipment Proposal? No

Do you intend to submit an Education/Public Outreach (E/PO) proposal? No

Proposal Title:
Model Atmospheres and Spectra for Extrasolar Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs

Abbreviated Proposal Title:
Brown Dwarf & Extrasolar Giant Planet Atmospheres

Principal Investigator:
Dr. Mark S. Marley
Department of Astronomy
New Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30001
Department 4500
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Phone: 505-646-1913   Fax: 505-646-1602   E-mail: mmarley@nmsu.edu

SignatureDate
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Co-Investigators and Collaborators:
Type    Name    Affiliation    E-mail
Sci Collab   Dr. Didier Saumon   Vanderbilt   dsaumon@ca ctus.phy.Vanderbilt.Edu
Sci Collab   Dr. Keith Noll   STScI   noll@stsci.edu
Sci Collab   Dr. Richard Freedman   NASA/Ames   freedman@ darkstar.arc.nasa.gov
Sci Collab   Dr. Adam Burrows   Univ. Ariz.   burrows@jupiter.as.arizona.edu
Sci Collab   Dr. Jonathan Lunine   Univ. Ariz.   lunine@lpl.arizona.edu
Sci Collab   Dr. William Hubbard   Univ. Ariz.   hubbard@lpl.arizona.edu


Proposal Summary:

I propose to construct radiative-convective equilibrium thermal models of the atmospheres of extrasolar giant planets and cool brown dwarfs. The models will explore the roles of condensation, convective transport of non-equilibrium species, deposition of incident solar energy, and photochemistry in controlling the reflected and emitted spectra of these objects. The work will facilitate the interpretation of observed spectra of cool brown dwarfs and aid in efforts to directly detect extrasolar giant planets around nearby stars. The proposal will discuss the similarities between the thermal structure, dynamics, and role of condensates in atmospheres of cool brown dwarfs and jovian planets. By studying the coolest of brown dwarfs we gain insight into processes acting deep within Jupiter's envelope and in the observable atmospheres of warm extrasolar giant planets.