Haze production in the atmospheres of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes: Insight from PHAZER lab

Numerous solar system atmospheres possess including the characteristic organic hazes of Titan and Pluto. Haze particles substantially impact atmospheric temperature structures and may provide organic material to the surface of a world, thereby affecting its habitability. Observations of exoplanet atmospheres suggest the presence of aerosols, especially in cooler (<800 K), smaller (<0.3 times Jupiter’s mass) exoplanets. It remains unclear if the aerosols muting the spectroscopic features of exoplanet atmospheres are condensate clouds or photochemical hazes, which is difficult to predict from theory alone. We present here the first laboratory haze simulation experiments for atmospheric compositions expected for superEarths and mini-Neptunes. We explored temperatures from 300 to 600 K and a range of