The Jupiter System: An Exoplanet Testbed

Abstract:

The Universe has shown it is capable of creating some truly alien planetary systems which will remain as simple specks of light next to their comparatively bright and blazing host stars. However, unlike our observations of the storms and clouds on Solar System planets, atmospheric or surface features remain unresolved on exoplanets as the light we detect is a hemispherical average. Thus observations of planetary bodies in our Solar System with exoplanet-like observational methods are the only way we can understand how unresolved features manifest in exoplanet observations. With future direct imaging missions, we can finally image planets separate from their host stars as we have in the Solar System for centuries. However, exoplanets will be typically observed at partial illumination angles and from non-equatorial perspectives, which is an unusual Solar System perspective. I'll present observations of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites as exoplanet analogs and discuss future avenues for providing the benchmark data to place exoplanets in Solar System context.