Professor Jonathan Fortney
Science ● Group ● Curriculum Vitae ● Models ● Perspective ● Other Worlds Lab
Science
Exoplanet Atmospheres
The exotic atmospheres of alien worlds are nothing like what we have in the solar system. Atmospheres of close-in orbiting planets can reach thousands of degrees and feature rock dust clouds and supersonic winds. The Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes can obtain spectra of these and many other worlds. Jonathan’s group has also modeled the spectra of Earth-like worlds to assess what kinds of observations may allow us to better understand if such planets harbor life.
Exoplanet Structure and Evolution
Exoplanets provide a comparison sample for planets in our own solar system. Jonathan’s group has shown that the densities of gas giant exoplanets indicate a formation history likely similar to Jupiter and Saturn. He has also worked to understand how “sub-Neptune” planets commonly found by NASA’s Kepler and TESS Missions may transform into “super-Earth” planets by losing their hydrogen envelopes over time.
Solar System’s Giant Planets
Jonathan has helped to interpret data from NASA’s Cassini Mission to Saturn and Juno Mission to Jupiter, to understand physical processes in the deep interiors of these planets, like helium rain and the possible erosion of their dense rock/ice cores. He has also helped to craft the science case for potential future missions to Uranus and Neptune.
Brown Dwarfs and Faint Stars
Jonathan’s research group has worked to understand how cool “failed stars” provide us clues to the atmospheric chemistry and clouds we may see in exoplanets. He is also working to understand the complex atmospheres and interiors of faint red M-type stars, which are over 70% of all stars in the galaxy, and are important hosts for exoplanetary systems.
Jonathan talking about a range of his science interests on the “Scientific Sense” podcast.
Jonathan’s Full Publication List from NASA ADS
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