Ocean signatures in the total flux and polarization spectra of Earth-like exoplanets

ontext. Numerical simulations of starlight that is reflected by Earth-like exoplanets predict habitability signatures that can be searched for with future telescopes.<br/><br/>Aims. We explore signatures of water oceans in the flux and polarization spectra of this reflected light.<br/><br/>Methods. With an adding-doubling algorithm, we computed...

Exoplanet cartography using convolutional neural networks

Context. In the near future, dedicated telescopes will observe Earth-like exoplanets in reflected parent starlight, allowing their physical characterization. Because of the huge distances, every exoplanet will remain an unresolved, single pixel, but temporal variations in the pixel’s spectral flux contain information about the planet’s surface...