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We explore the appearance of terrestrial planets in formation by studying theemergent spectra of hot molten protoplanets during their collisional formation.While such collisions are rare, the surfaces of these bodies may remain hot attemperatures of 1000-3000 K for up to millions of years during the epoch oftheir formation. These object are luminous enough in the thermal infrared to beobservable with current and next generation optical/IR telescopes, providedthat the atmosphere of the forming planet permits astronomers to observebrightness temperatures approaching that of the molten surface. Detectabilityof a collisional afterglow depends on properties of the planet's atmosphere --primarily on the mass of the atmosphere. A planet with a thin atmosphere ismore readily detected, because there is little atmosphere to obscure the hotsurface. Paradoxically, a more massive atmosphere prevents one from easilyseeing the hot surface, but also keeps the planet hot for a longer time. Interms of planetary mass, more massive planets are also easier to detect thansmaller ones because of their larger emitting surface areas. We presentpreliminary calculations assuming a range of protoplanet masses (1-10$M_\earth$), surface pressures (1-1000 bar), and atmospheric compositions, formolten planets with surface temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1800 K, in orderto explore the diversity of emergent spectra that are detectable. While current8- to 10-m class ground-based telescopes may detect hot protoplanets at wideorbital separations beyond 30 AU (if they exist), we will likely have to waitfor next-generation extremely large telescopes or improved diffractionsuppression techniques to find terrestrial planets in formation within severalAU of their host stars.

On the Emergent Spectra of Hot Protoplanet Collision Afterglows