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E. L. Turner, E. Ford (Princeton Univ. Obs.), S. Seager (Inst. Adv. Study)
The scattered optical/NIR and emitted MIR light curves of an extrasolar terrestrial planet, on its orbital and rotational time scales, will contain indirect information concerning the body's gross physical properties. These potentially include rotational period, the nature and composition of the surface (including ocean versus land fraction), atmospheric properties, climate indicators such as ice and cloud coverage, and meteorological variability among others. Light curves of such objects may therefore provide a valuable complement to spectroscopic data for the their characterization and may provide the only such information in cases where the target is too faint for spectroscopic observations. We present some preliminary results of an investigation of the nature and amplitude of the predicted light curve features of an extrasolar Earth-like planet. Some of the effects are expected to be substantial and should be discernible even with low precision photometry while others will be subtle and difficult both to detect and to untangle.