Opportunities and Challenges in the Study of Exoplanetary Atmospheres during the JWST Era postprint

Abstract: Currently, more than 5000 exoplanets have been detected, and exoplanetary science is evolving from a focus on exoplanet detection to a focus on comprehensive exoplanetary characterization. Over the past 20 years, through the atmospheric characterization of about 100 exoplanets, a basic framework has been established for atmospheric detection methods, a series of atmospheric spectral forward modeling and retrieval methods, and atmospheric theory for transit and directly imaged planets. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has unprecedented detection capabilities in the near to mid-infrared spectrum, and high-quality data will drive the development of atmospheric theory and models. The early released scientific results of the Cycle-1 have shown the ability of the JWST to characterize the atmospheres of transit and directly imaged exoplanets, as well as the initial constraints on the atmospheres of potentially habitable planets around nearby low-mass star. The pursuit of finely detailed exoplanet atmospheric characterization in the era of the JWST has already begun, and in conjunction with future missions with atmospheric survey capabilities, such as ARIEL and large-aperture adaptive-optics ground-base telescopes in the next 5 years, will reveal the diversity of exoplanet atmospheres at a much deeper level.