Thesis Supervisor: Markus Kissler-Patig
Abstract
Nearly 500 exo-planets have been discovered beyond the Solar System. In the last few years, a dozen exo-planet atmospheres could be detected and a first characterisation was attempted. We are building a set of reference spectra to be compared with the exo-planet ones. To do this, the Earth can be observed as an exo-planet through Lunar Earthshine or during Lunar eclipses. Further objects in the Solar System can be used as reference atmospheres. The PhD thesis aims a) at building a library of high-resolution spectra of planet/lunar atmospheres as seen from Earth, b) at comparing these to the first spectra of exo-planets, and c) at evaluating the best strategy to characterise exo-planet atmospheres with the up-coming generation of telescopes.