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Tsai SM, Lee EKH, Powell D, Gao P, Zhang X, Moses J, Hébrard E, Venot O, Parmentier V, Jordan S, Hu R, Alam MK, Alderson L, Batalha NM, Bean JL, Benneke B, Bierson CJ, Brady RP, Carone L, Carter AL, Chubb KL, Inglis J, Leconte J, Line M, López-Morales M, Miguel Y, Molaverdikhani K, Rustamkulov Z, Sing DK, Stevenson KB, Wakeford HR, Yang J, Aggarwal K, Baeyens R, Barat S, de Val-Borro M, Daylan T, Fortney JJ, France K, Goyal JM, Grant D, Kirk J, Kreidberg L, Louca A, Moran SE, Mukherjee S, Nasedkin E, Ohno K, Rackham BV, Redfield S, Taylor J, Tremblin P, Visscher C, Wallack NL, Welbanks L, Youngblood A, Ahrer EM, Batalha NE, Behr P, Berta-Thompson ZK, Blecic J, Casewell SL, Crossfield IJM, Crouzet N, Cubillos PE, Decin L, Désert JM, Feinstein AD, Gibson NP, Harrington J, Heng K, Henning T, Kempton EMR, Krick J, Lagage PO, Lendl M, Lothringer JD, Mansfield M, Mayne NJ, Mikal-Evans T, Palle E, Schlawin E, Shorttle O, Wheatley PJ, Yurchenko SN. Photochemically produced SO 2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. Nature 2023; 617:483-487. [PMID: 37100917 PMCID: PMC10191860 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shang-Min Tsai
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
| | - Elspeth K H Lee
- Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Diana Powell
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Peter Gao
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Xi Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Olivia Venot
- Université de Paris Cité and Univ. Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France
| | - Vivien Parmentier
- Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
| | - Sean Jordan
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Renyu Hu
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Munazza K Alam
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Lili Alderson
- School of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Natalie M Batalha
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Jacob L Bean
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Björn Benneke
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Carver J Bierson
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Ryan P Brady
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ludmila Carone
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - Aarynn L Carter
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Katy L Chubb
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Julie Inglis
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jérémy Leconte
- Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Michael Line
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | | | - Yamila Miguel
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Karan Molaverdikhani
- Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Exzellenzcluster Origins, Munich, Germany
| | - Zafar Rustamkulov
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David K Sing
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Jeehyun Yang
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Robin Baeyens
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Saugata Barat
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Tansu Daylan
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Jonathan J Fortney
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Kevin France
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Jayesh M Goyal
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEPS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Odisha, India
| | - David Grant
- School of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - James Kirk
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | - Amy Louca
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Sarah E Moran
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Sagnick Mukherjee
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - Kazumasa Ohno
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin V Rackham
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Seth Redfield
- Astronomy Department and Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
| | - Jake Taylor
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Pascal Tremblin
- Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Channon Visscher
- Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO, USA
- Chemistry and Planetary Sciences, Dordt University, Sioux Center, IA, USA
| | - Nicole L Wallack
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Luis Welbanks
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | | | - Eva-Maria Ahrer
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | | | - Patrick Behr
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Zachory K Berta-Thompson
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Jasmina Blecic
- Department of Physics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Center for Astro, Particle, and Planetary Physics (CAP3), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - S L Casewell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Ian J M Crossfield
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Nicolas Crouzet
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Patricio E Cubillos
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
- INAF - Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Pino Torinese, Italy
| | - Leen Decin
- Institute of Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jean-Michel Désert
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Adina D Feinstein
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Neale P Gibson
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Joseph Harrington
- Planetary Sciences Group, Department of Physics and Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Kevin Heng
- Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | | | - Eliza M-R Kempton
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Jessica Krick
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Pierre-Olivier Lagage
- Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Monika Lendl
- Département d'Astronomie, Université de Genève, Sauverny, Switzerland
| | | | | | - N J Mayne
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Enric Palle
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
| | | | - Oliver Shorttle
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Peter J Wheatley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Sergei N Yurchenko
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
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