Forward Modeling and Retrievals with PLATON, a Fast Open-source Tool. (29th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Michael; Chachan, Yayaati; Kempton, Eliza M.-R.; Knutson, Heather A.
• Is Part Of: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Volume 131:Number 997(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-01-29
• Subjects: methods: data analysis -- techniques: spectroscopic -- planets and satellites: atmospheres -- planets and satellites: composition -- planets and satellites: general; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Astronomy; Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/aaf5ad
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-6280

Abstract

Abstract: We introduce PLanetary Atmospheric Transmission for Observer Noobs (PLATON), a Python package that calculates transmission spectra for exoplanets and retrieves atmospheric characteristics based on observed spectra. PLATON is easy to install and use, with common use cases taking no more than a few lines of code. It is also fast, with the forward model taking much less than one second, and a typical retrieval finishing in minutes on an ordinary desktop. PLATON supports the most common atmospheric parameters, such as temperature, metallicity, C/O ratio, cloud-top pressure, and scattering slope. It also has less commonly included features, such as a Mie scattering cloud model and unocculted starspot corrections. The code is available online at https://github.com/ideasrule/platon under the open-source GPL-3.0 license.