Effects of tides on the infrared light curve of rocky exoplanets
Résumé
Short-period exoplanets undergo strong tidal interactions that affect their orbital and spin evolution and their internal structure via tidal heating. Tidal models are, however, limited by uncertainties on key processes such as the dissipation rate. We show here that infrared photometric monitoring of eccentric rocky exoplanets can be used to determine the rotation period and constrain the tidal dissipation within the planet. The comparison of tidal models with measured rotation and dissipation rates of exoplanets would allow us to constrain unknown parameters and discriminate between models.