探测系外行星的主要目的是研究生命和可供地球生命生存的行星是否普遍存在这一基本科学问题.近20年来已有超过3000颗系外行星被发现,~1还有几千颗候选系外行星有待确认,其中疑似宜居系外行星的数量近20颗.未来十年疑似宜居系外行星的数目将大为增加.尽管目前对宜居系外行星大气观测的能力和科学结果还很有限,但可以预期未来20年对这一类行星大气的观测将成为行星科学研究的重要领域.本文根据当前系外行星大气科学发展的状态和主要科学问题,在对中国未来系外行星科学发展方向进行分析的基础上,提出一种比较可行的建议,即在近1~2年内有针对性地开展系外行星大气普查和系外行星高层大气观测的可行性论证和预研,并在5~10年内择一予以实施.
The most fundamental question driving the search and characterization of exoplanets is whether life and habitable planets are ubiquitous.More than 3000 exoplanets have been discovered since 1995,about 20 of which are potentially habitable and this number could be increased dramatically in the next decade.Observation of the atmospheres of potentially habitable exoplanets is becoming the hot spot in planetary sciences.In this review we summarize the research progress regarding exoplanetary atmospheres and propose a practical roadmap,the implementation of which could accelerate the development of exoplanetary sciences in China in the near future.