ABSTRACT

At the dawn of the first discovery of exoplanets orbiting sun-like
stars, fourteen years ago, few believed that exoplanet atmosphere observations
were possible. Seven years ago, after the Hubble Space Telescope observation of
the transiting HD 209458b atmosphere, many skeptics challenged it as a
one-object, one-method success. With over two dozen exoplanet atmospheres
observed today, we have solidly entered the first stage of exoplanet atmosphere
research. I will review the highlights of hot Jupiter atmosphere studies:
detection of molecular spectral features; constraints on atmospheric vertical
structure; and diversity of day-night temperature gradients. I will show what
we can robustly infer from the two best transiting hot Jupiter atmosphere data
sets using a new atmospheric temperature and abundance retrieval method. As hot
Jupiter observations and interpretation are maturing, the next frontier is
super Earth atmospheres. Theoretical models are moving forward with
observational hopes pinned on the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for
launch in 2014. I will conclude with an update on the realistic but futuristic
attempt to answer the enigmatic and ancient question, "Are we alone?" via
detection of atmospheric biosignatures.