= Exoplanet thermal phase curve
An <exoplanet thermal phase curve> measures the change in planetary infrared brightness through the <orbit>, after modelling the host <star>'s contribution. Around <exoplanet secondary eclipse> the visible hemisphere is mostly dayside; around primary <exoplanet transit> it is mostly nightside. The amplitude therefore constrains the longitudinal thermal contrast, while an offset maximum indicates an asymmetric brightness distribution.
<Spitzer Space Telescope> observations of <HD 189733 b> demonstrated that this technique could constrain <day-night heat redistribution> and a displaced bright region even without resolving the planetary disc.<A map of the day-night contrast of the extrasolar planet HD 189733b by Heather A. Knutson and others>[Abstract: half-orbit brightness variation and offset peak]{ref} A phase curve averages light over a visible hemisphere. Its map is therefore model-dependent, and <brightness temperatures> in one band need not describe all atmospheric <pressures>.
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