astroatmospheric

Astroatmospheric is an interdisciplinary field that studies atmospheres in astronomical contexts. It covers the physical and chemical properties of atmospheres attached to astronomical bodies, including planets and substellar objects within planetary systems, as well as stellar atmospheres and circumstellar environments. The field integrates astronomy, atmospheric science, chemistry, and planetary science to understand composition, structure, dynamics, and evolution.

For planets and brown dwarfs, researchers investigate temperature–pressure profiles, chemical abundances, cloud and haze formation, atmospheric circulation, and escape processes. For stars, astroatmospheric research examines how radiative transfer shapes the observed spectra of photospheres, chromospheres, and coronae, including non-LTE effects and line formation.

Observational techniques include transit and eclipse spectroscopy, phase curves, direct imaging, and high-resolution spectroscopy, often combined with retrieval and forward-modeling to infer compositions and thermal structures. Key molecular and aerosol tracers include water vapor, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and various condensates. Data from space telescopes such as Hubble and JWST, and missions like ARIEL, along with ground-based facilities, drive advances.

Challenges include degeneracies among temperature, composition, and cloud properties; stellar activity contamination; and limited signal-to-noise for distant systems. The field informs planet formation and evolution, atmospheric chemistry, climate, and assessments of potential habitability, as well as broader stellar physics. While not universally standardized, astroatmospheric is used as an umbrella term to describe this cross-disciplinary study of astronomical atmospheres.