Authors

E. Pantin, J. Salmon, S. Charnoz

Affiliations

DSM/IRFU/SAp

Abstract

The E-ELT suite of potential instruments comprises a mid-infrared imager and spectrometer (3.5-13 um), METIS. Its design and expected performances make it a suited facility to characterize in the thermal infrared range giant exoplanets around nearby stars. Moreover, rings around giant planets are common at least in our Solar System. They can be dense, like Saturn’s rings, or faint like those of Jupiter, Uranus or Neptune. Thus, the presence of rings around exoplanets, either gaseous or telluric, represents a possibility worth studying. We have simulated the dynamical evolution of a newly created ring of particles around a Super-Earth exoplanet. We show that, depending on the physical conditions (distance to the planet, planet mass and size, densities, particles’ material), the ring can survive on Gyr timescales. Because of a larger total emitting surface, and possibly higher temperatures, their presence increases the planet’s flux, making the detection of exoplanets easier. We will show the potential of METIS to characterize the exoplanets with special emphasis on the possibility to detect super-Earth exoplanets surrounded by a dusty ring.