 Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics

Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics describes motion in an exoplanet atmosphere and its transport of heat, matter and angular momentum. Uneven stellar heating creates horizontal pressure gradients; rotation deflects the flow through the Coriolis force, while friction and radiative transfer modify its response. The resulting circulation can contain jets, waves and overturning motion.

On a hot Jupiter under tidal locking, permanent day-night heating contrasts drive day-night heat redistribution. Comparing the atmospheric advection time with the radiative relaxation time in a planetary atmosphere estimates whether gas changes hemisphere before losing much heat. An exoplanet thermal phase curve tests the resulting brightness distribution, while disequilibrium chemistry in an exoplanet atmosphere records transport of chemical species.