The barometric formula can be adapted to calculate atmospheric profiles for gas giants.
the verdict
INSUFFICIENT LEANING
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
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Retrieved discussions note that standard barometric assumptions fail for gas giants due to varying gravity and density gradients, but direct peer-reviewed evidence establishing how the formula is adapted remains partial or tangential.
We present the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) optical transmission spectroscopy of the cool Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from 0.29-1.025 μm, along with complementary transit observations from Spitzer IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. The low density and large atmospheric pressure scale height of WASP-39b make it particularly amenable to atmospheric characterization using this technique. We detect a Rayleigh scattering slope as well as sodium and potassium absorption features; this is the first exoplanet in which both alkali features are clearly detected with the extended wings predicted by cloud-free atmosphere models. The full transmission spectrum is well matched by a clear H2-dominated atmosphere, or one containing a weak contribution from haze, in good agreement with the preliminary reduction of these data presented in Sing et al. WASP-39b is predicted to have a pressure-temperature profile comparable to that of HD 189733b and WASP-6b, making it one of the coolest transiting gas giants observed in our HST STIS survey. Despite this similarity, WASP-39b appears to be largely cloud-free, while the transmission spectra of HD 189733b and WASP-6b both indicate the presence of high altitude clouds or hazes. These observations further emphasize the surprising diversity of cloudy and cloud-free gas giant planets in short-period orbits and the corresponding challenges associated with developing predictive cloud models for these atmospheres.
# What is the barometric formula for a gas giant?
Tags: planetary-science, atmosphere, gas-giant, physics, thermodynamics
- Score: 8
- Views: 2701
- Answers: 4
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: mart (1295 rep)
- Asked: 2014-02-15
- Edited: 2014-02-15
- Site: space
## Question
The barometric formula describes the atmospheric pressure depending on height and a host of other things. This formula assumes a constant gravitational acceleration over the whole height of the gas column - a reasonable assumption for Earth, as the atmosphere is thin compared to to the size of the planet.
Now, if we have a gas giant with far smaller mean density, this assumption may hold no longer. How does one calculate the density/pressure over height? I would assume that below a certain height, the pressure is above the critical pressure for the gas mixture and one can assume a constant density, down to the solid core. But above?
## Answers
### Answer by AlanSE (score: 5 [ACCEPTED])
This formula assumes a constant gravitational acceleration over the whole height of the gas column - a reasonable assumption for Earth, as the atmosphere is thin compared to to the size of the planet.
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