A simulation chamber for absorption spectroscopy in planetary atmospheres

A novel simulation chamber, PASSxS (Planetary Atmosphere Simulation System for Spectroscopy), has been developed for absorption measurements performed with a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) and, possibly, a cavity ring-down (CRD) spectrometer with a sample temperature ranging from 100 up to 550 K, while the pressure of the gas can be varied from 10 mbar up to 60 bar. These temperature and pressure ranges cover a significant part of the planetary atmospheres in the solar system, and the absorption chamber can thus be used to simulate planetary atmospheres of solar planets and extrasolar planets with similar physical conditions. The optical absorption path for the FTS absorption measurements is 3.2 m due to the implementation of a multi-pass setup inside the chamber. The FTS measurements cover a wide spectral range, from the visible to the mid-infrared, with a sensitivity sufficient for medium-strength absorption bands. The FTS has been used previously to measure high-pressure atmospheres, including collision-induced absorption bands and continuum absorption at ambient temperatures. PASSxS allows the measurement of the temperature dependence of collision-induced bands and continuum absorption, which is important for both the modeling of planetary atmospheres and fundamental processes involving collisions between molecules and atoms.

A simulation chamber for absorption spectroscopy in planetary atmospheres

A novel simulation chamber PASSxS (Planetary Atmosphere Simulation System for Spectroscopy) has been developed for absorption measurements performed with a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and, possibly, a cavity ring down (CRD) spectrometer, with a sample temperature ranging from 100 K up to 550 K, while the pressure of the gas can be varied from 10 mbar up to 60 bar. These temperature and pressure ranges cover a significant part of the planetary atmospheres in the solar system and the absorption chamber can thus be used to simulate planetary atmospheres of solar planets and extra solar planets with similar atmospheres. The optical absorption path for the FTS absorption measurements is 3.2 m, due to the implementation of a multipass setup inside the chamber. The FTS measurements cover a wide spectral range, from the visible to the mid-infrared with a sensitivity sufficient for medium strength absorption bands. The FTS has been used previously to measure high pressure atmospheres, including collision induced absorption bands and continuum absorption at ambient temperatures. PASSxS allows to measure the temperature dependence of collision induced bands and continuum absorption, which is important both for the modelling of planetary atmospheres as well as for fundamental processes involving collisions between molecules and atoms.

Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using gamma-ray bursts

We use Gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectra total continuum absorption to estimate the key intergalactic medium (IGM) properties of hydrogen column density ($\mathit {N}_{\mathrm{HXIGM}}$), metallicity, temperature and ionisation parameter over a redshift range of 1.6 ≤ z ≤ 6.3, using photo-ionisation (PIE) and collisional ionisation equilibrium (CIE) models for the ionised plasma. We use more realistic host metallicity, dust corrected where available, in generating the host absorption model, assuming that the host intrinsic hydrogen column density is equal to the measured ionisation corrected intrinsic neutral column from UV spectra (${\it N}_{\mathrm{H}\, \rm \small {I,IC}}$). We find that the IGM property results are similar, regardless of whether the model assumes all PIE or CIE. The $\mathit {N}_{\mathrm{HXIGM}}$ scales as (1 + z)1.0 − 1.9, with equivalent hydrogen mean density at z = 0 of $n_0 = 1.8^{+1.5}_{-1.2} \times 10^{-7}$ cm−3. The metallicity ranges from ∼0.1 Z⊙ at z ∼ 2 to ∼0.001 Z⊙ at redshift z > 4. The PIE model implies a less rapid decline in average metallicity with redshift compared to CIE. Under CIE, the temperature ranges between 5.0 < log (T/K) < 7.1. For PIE the ionisation parameter ranges between 0.1 < log (ξ) < 2.9. Using our model, we conclude that the IGM contributes substantially to the total absorption seen in GRB spectra and that this contribution rises with redshift, explaining why the hydrogen column density inferred from X-rays is substantially in excess of the intrinsic host contribution measured in UV.