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This content will become publicly available on June 6, 2023

Title: Analytic Light Curves in Reflected Light: Phase Curves, Occultations, and Non-Lambertian Scattering for Spherical Planets and Moons
Abstract We derive efficient, closed-form, differentiable, and numerically stable solutions for the flux measured from a spherical planet or moon seen in reflected light, either in or out of occultation. Our expressions apply to the computation of scattered light phase curves of exoplanets, secondary eclipse light) curves in the optical, or future measurements of planet–moon and planet–planet occultations, as well as to photometry of solar system bodies. We derive our solutions for Lambertian bodies illuminated by a point source, but extend them to model illumination sources of finite angular size and rough surfaces with phase-dependent scattering. Our algorithm is implemented in Python within the open-source starry mapping framework and is designed with efficient gradient-based inference in mind. The algorithm is ∼4–5 orders of magnitude faster than direct numerical evaluation methods and ∼10 orders of magnitude more precise. We show how the techniques developed here may one day lead to the construction of two-dimensional maps of terrestrial planet surfaces, potentially enabling the detection of continents and oceans on exoplanets in the habitable zone. 6 6 https://github.com/rodluger/starrynight
Authors:
; ; ;
Award ID(s):
1907342
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10353632
Journal Name:
The Astronomical Journal
Volume:
164
Issue:
1
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
4
ISSN:
0004-6256
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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