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The atmospheric circulation of hot Jupiters are characterized by strong winds driven by large-scale waves generated from their large contrast in received irradiation from dayside to nightside. The propagation of these planetary-scale waves, along with the generation of large-scale instabilities, can cause the atmospheric flow of hot Jupiters to be time-variable. A range of general circulation modeling (GCM) studies of the atmospheric circulation of hot Jupiters have found emergent time-variability in the flow. This weather has been shown to cause variations in the secondary eclipse depth may be large enough to detect with JWST. JWST will enable the characterization of weather in exoplanet atmospheres with repeated secondary eclipse observations. A characterization of exoplanet weather, or lack thereof, will serve as a critical test for current GCMs that resolve the equatorial waves and shear instabilities that lead to emergent time variability. Depending on its amplitude and periodicity, detected variability may require additional processes that are often neglected in cloud-free GCMs (e.g., cloud feedback, magnetic effects) to explain in detail. Repeated secondary eclipse observations with JWST will also determine the level at which variability will affect JWST observations and how it has affected previous Spitzer, HST, and ground-based characterization of hot Jupiters.

Characterizing weather in exoplanet atmospheres with JWST