1
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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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2
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Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere. Nature 2023; 614:649-652. [PMID: 36055338 PMCID: PMC9946830 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called 'metallicity')1-3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants4-6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets7-9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification10-12. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0-5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative-convective-thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.
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3
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Seidel JV, Nielsen LD, Sarkar S. JWST opens a window on exoplanet skies. Nature 2023; 614:632-633. [PMID: 36792896 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00394-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
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4
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Ahrer EM, Stevenson KB, Mansfield M, Moran SE, Brande J, Morello G, Murray CA, Nikolov NK, Petit Dit de la Roche DJM, Schlawin E, Wheatley PJ, Zieba S, Batalha NE, Damiano M, Goyal JM, Lendl M, Lothringer JD, Mukherjee S, Ohno K, Batalha NM, Battley MP, Bean JL, Beatty TG, Benneke B, Berta-Thompson ZK, Carter AL, Cubillos PE, Daylan T, Espinoza N, Gao P, Gibson NP, Gill S, Harrington J, Hu R, Kreidberg L, Lewis NK, Line MR, López-Morales M, Parmentier V, Powell DK, Sing DK, Tsai SM, Wakeford HR, Welbanks L, Alam MK, Alderson L, Allen NH, Anderson DR, Barstow JK, Bayliss D, Bell TJ, Blecic J, Bryant EM, Burleigh MR, Carone L, Casewell SL, Changeat Q, Chubb KL, Crossfield IJM, Crouzet N, Decin L, Désert JM, Feinstein AD, Flagg L, Fortney JJ, Gizis JE, Heng K, Iro N, Kempton EMR, Kendrew S, Kirk J, Knutson HA, Komacek TD, Lagage PO, Leconte J, Lustig-Yaeger J, MacDonald RJ, Mancini L, May EM, Mayne NJ, Miguel Y, Mikal-Evans T, Molaverdikhani K, Palle E, Piaulet C, Rackham BV, Redfield S, Rogers LK, Roy PA, Rustamkulov Z, Shkolnik EL, Sotzen KS, Taylor J, Tremblin P, Tucker GS, Turner JD, de Val-Borro M, Venot O, Zhang X. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam. Nature 2023; 614:653-658. [PMID: 36623551 PMCID: PMC9946836 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05590-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories. Transmission spectroscopy (for example, refs. 1,2) provides the necessary means by constraining the abundances of oxygen- and carbon-bearing species; however, this requires broad wavelength coverage, moderate spectral resolution and high precision, which, together, are not achievable with previous observatories. Now that JWST has commenced science operations, we are able to observe exoplanets at previously uncharted wavelengths and spectral resolutions. Here we report time-series observations of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b using JWST's Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). The long-wavelength spectroscopic and short-wavelength photometric light curves span 2.0-4.0 micrometres, exhibit minimal systematics and reveal well defined molecular absorption features in the planet's spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous water in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of methane. The otherwise prominent carbon dioxide feature at 2.8 micrometres is largely masked by water. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1-100-times solar (that is, an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a substellar C/O ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation (for example, refs. 3,4,) or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere (for example, refs. 5,6).
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva-Maria Ahrer
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
| | | | | | - Sarah E Moran
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Jonathan Brande
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Giuseppe Morello
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
- Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, Spain
- INAF- Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Piazza del Parlamento, Palermo, Italy
| | - Catriona A Murray
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | | | | | | | - Peter J Wheatley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Sebastian Zieba
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Jayesh M Goyal
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEPS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), HBNI, Jatani, India
| | - Monika Lendl
- Département d'Astronomie, Université de Genève, Sauverny, Switzerland
| | | | - 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
| | - Natalie M Batalha
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Astrobiology Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Matthew P Battley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Jacob L Bean
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Thomas G Beatty
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Björn Benneke
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | | | - Aarynn L Carter
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Patricio E Cubillos
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
- INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy
| | - Tansu Daylan
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Néstor Espinoza
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Peter Gao
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington DC, USA
| | - Neale P Gibson
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Samuel Gill
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Joseph Harrington
- Planetary Sciences Group, Department of Physics and Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Renyu Hu
- Astrophysics Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Nikole K Lewis
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Michael R Line
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | | | - Vivien Parmentier
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
| | - Diana K Powell
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David K Sing
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Shang-Min Tsai
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Luis Welbanks
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 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 H Allen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - David R Anderson
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Joanna K Barstow
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Daniel Bayliss
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Taylor J Bell
- BAER Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, 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
| | - Edward M Bryant
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
| | | | - Ludmila Carone
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - S L Casewell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Quentin Changeat
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Katy L Chubb
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Ian J M Crossfield
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Nicolas Crouzet
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - 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
| | - Laura Flagg
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan J Fortney
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - John E Gizis
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Kevin Heng
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- University Observatory Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Iro
- Institute for Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eliza M-R Kempton
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Sarah Kendrew
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - James Kirk
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Heather A Knutson
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Pierre-Olivier Lagage
- Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jérémy Leconte
- Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | | | - Ryan J MacDonald
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Luigi Mancini
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
- INAF - Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Pino Torinese, Italy
| | - E M May
- Johns Hopkins APL, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - N J Mayne
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Yamila Miguel
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Karan Molaverdikhani
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- University Observatory Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- Exzellenzcluster Origins, Garching, Germany
| | - Enric Palle
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
| | - Caroline Piaulet
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - 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
| | - Laura K Rogers
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pierre-Alexis Roy
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Zafar Rustamkulov
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Evgenya L Shkolnik
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Kristin S Sotzen
- Johns Hopkins APL, Laurel, MD, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jake Taylor
- Department of Physics and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - P Tremblin
- Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | | | - Jake D Turner
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | - Olivia Venot
- Université de Paris Cité and Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France
| | - Xi Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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5
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Feinstein AD, Radica M, Welbanks L, Murray CA, Ohno K, Coulombe LP, Espinoza N, Bean JL, Teske JK, Benneke B, Line MR, Rustamkulov Z, Saba A, Tsiaras A, Barstow JK, Fortney JJ, Gao P, Knutson HA, MacDonald RJ, Mikal-Evans T, Rackham BV, Taylor J, Parmentier V, Batalha NM, Berta-Thompson ZK, Carter AL, Changeat Q, Dos Santos LA, Gibson NP, Goyal JM, Kreidberg L, López-Morales M, Lothringer JD, Miguel Y, Molaverdikhani K, Moran SE, Morello G, Mukherjee S, Sing DK, Stevenson KB, Wakeford HR, Ahrer EM, Alam MK, Alderson L, Allen NH, Batalha NE, Bell TJ, Blecic J, Brande J, Caceres C, Casewell SL, Chubb KL, Crossfield IJM, Crouzet N, Cubillos PE, Decin L, Désert JM, Harrington J, Heng K, Henning T, Iro N, Kempton EMR, Kendrew S, Kirk J, Krick J, Lagage PO, Lendl M, Mancini L, Mansfield M, May EM, Mayne NJ, Nikolov NK, Palle E, Petit Dit de la Roche DJM, Piaulet C, Powell D, Redfield S, Rogers LK, Roman MT, Roy PA, Nixon MC, Schlawin E, Tan X, Tremblin P, Turner JD, Venot O, Waalkes WC, Wheatley PJ, Zhang X. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRISS. Nature 2023; 614:670-675. [PMID: 36623550 PMCID: PMC9946829 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b has been the subject of extensive efforts to determine its atmospheric properties using transmission spectroscopy1-4. However, these efforts have been hampered by modelling degeneracies between composition and cloud properties that are caused by limited data quality5-9. Here we present the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b obtained using the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans 0.6-2.8 μm in wavelength and shows several water-absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet and signatures of clouds. The precision and broad wavelength coverage of NIRISS/SOSS allows us to break model degeneracies between cloud properties and the atmospheric composition of WASP-39b, favouring a heavy-element enhancement ('metallicity') of about 10-30 times the solar value, a sub-solar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio and a solar-to-super-solar potassium-to-oxygen (K/O) ratio. The observations are also best explained by wavelength-dependent, non-grey clouds with inhomogeneous coverageof the planet's terminator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adina D Feinstein
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Michael Radica
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Luis Welbanks
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Catriona Anne Murray
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Kazumasa Ohno
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Louis-Philippe Coulombe
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Néstor Espinoza
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jacob L Bean
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Johanna K Teske
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Björn Benneke
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Michael R Line
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Zafar Rustamkulov
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Arianna Saba
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Angelos Tsiaras
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
- INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence, Italy
| | - Joanna K Barstow
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Jonathan J Fortney
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Peter Gao
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Heather A Knutson
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Ryan J MacDonald
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 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
| | - Jake Taylor
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Vivien Parmentier
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
| | - Natalie M Batalha
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Astrobiology Program, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Zachory K Berta-Thompson
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Aarynn L Carter
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Quentin Changeat
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Neale P Gibson
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jayesh M Goyal
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEPS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Jatani, India
| | | | | | | | - Yamila Miguel
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Karan Molaverdikhani
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Universitäts-Sternwarte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Exzellenzcluster Origins, Garching, Germany
| | - Sarah E Moran
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Giuseppe Morello
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
- Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, Spain
- INAF - Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Palermo, Italy
| | - Sagnick Mukherjee
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - David K Sing
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kevin B Stevenson
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | | | - Eva-Maria Ahrer
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - 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 H Allen
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Taylor J Bell
- Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 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
| | - Jonathan Brande
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Claudio Caceres
- Instituto de Astrofísica, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- Núcleo Milenio de Formación Planetaria (NPF), Valparaíso, Chile
- Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA), Santiago, Chile
| | - S L Casewell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Katy L Chubb
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, 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
- INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - 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
| | - Joseph Harrington
- Planetary Sciences Group, Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
- Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Kevin Heng
- Universitäts-Sternwarte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Nicolas Iro
- Institute for Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eliza M-R Kempton
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Sarah Kendrew
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - James Kirk
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jessica Krick
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Pierre-Olivier Lagage
- Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Monika Lendl
- Département d'Astronomie, Université de Genève Sauverny, Versoix, Switzerland
| | - Luigi Mancini
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
- INAF - Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Pino Torinese, Italy
| | | | - E M May
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - 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
| | | | - Caroline Piaulet
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Diana Powell
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Seth Redfield
- Astronomy Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
- Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
| | - Laura K Rogers
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael T Roman
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Campus Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile
| | - Pierre-Alexis Roy
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Matthew C Nixon
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Xianyu Tan
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - P Tremblin
- Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Versailles St Quentin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jake D Turner
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Olivia Venot
- Université de Paris Cité and Université Paris-Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France
| | - William C Waalkes
- Astrophysics & Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Peter J Wheatley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Xi Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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6
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Rustamkulov Z, Sing DK, Mukherjee S, May EM, Kirk J, Schlawin E, Line MR, Piaulet C, Carter AL, Batalha NE, Goyal JM, López-Morales M, Lothringer JD, MacDonald RJ, Moran SE, Stevenson KB, Wakeford HR, Espinoza N, Bean JL, Batalha NM, Benneke B, Berta-Thompson ZK, Crossfield IJM, Gao P, Kreidberg L, Powell DK, Cubillos PE, Gibson NP, Leconte J, Molaverdikhani K, Nikolov NK, Parmentier V, Roy P, Taylor J, Turner JD, Wheatley PJ, Aggarwal K, Ahrer E, Alam MK, Alderson L, Allen NH, Banerjee A, Barat S, Barrado D, Barstow JK, Bell TJ, Blecic J, Brande J, Casewell S, Changeat Q, Chubb KL, Crouzet N, Daylan T, Decin L, Désert J, Mikal-Evans T, Feinstein AD, Flagg L, Fortney JJ, Harrington J, Heng K, Hong Y, Hu R, Iro N, Kataria T, Kempton EMR, Krick J, Lendl M, Lillo-Box J, Louca A, Lustig-Yaeger J, Mancini L, Mansfield M, Mayne NJ, Miguel Y, Morello G, Ohno K, Palle E, Petit Dit de la Roche DJM, Rackham BV, Radica M, Ramos-Rosado L, Redfield S, Rogers LK, Shkolnik EL, Southworth J, Teske J, Tremblin P, Tucker GS, Venot O, Waalkes WC, Welbanks L, Zhang X, Zieba S. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec PRISM. Nature 2023; 614:659-663. [PMID: 36623548 PMCID: PMC9946832 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05677-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Transmission spectroscopy1-3 of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapour, aerosols and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres4,5. However, these previous inferences with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations' relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species-in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules6,7. Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b8, a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with the JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode9 as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team Program10-12. We robustly detect several chemical species at high significance, including Na (19σ), H2O (33σ), CO2 (28σ) and CO (7σ). The non-detection of CH4, combined with a strong CO2 feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4 µm is best explained by SO2 (2.7σ), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST's sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Rustamkulov
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - D K Sing
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - S Mukherjee
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - E M May
- Johns Hopkins APL, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - J Kirk
- Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - E Schlawin
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - M R Line
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - C Piaulet
- Institute of Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - A L Carter
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - N E Batalha
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - J M Goyal
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), HBNI, Jatani, India
| | - M López-Morales
- Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - J D Lothringer
- Department of Physics, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT, USA
| | - R J MacDonald
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - S E Moran
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | | | - H R Wakeford
- School of Physics, University of Bristol, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, Bristol, UK
| | - N Espinoza
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - J L Bean
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - N M Batalha
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - B Benneke
- Institute of Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - Z K Berta-Thompson
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - I J M Crossfield
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - P Gao
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA
| | - L Kreidberg
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - D K Powell
- Harvard and Smithsonian, Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - P E Cubillos
- INAF - Astrophysics Observatory at Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - N P Gibson
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - J Leconte
- Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - K Molaverdikhani
- University Observatory Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- Exzellenzcluster Origins, Garching, Germany
| | - N K Nikolov
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - V Parmentier
- Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - P Roy
- Institute of Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - J Taylor
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - J D Turner
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - P J Wheatley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - K Aggarwal
- Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, Indore, India
| | - E Ahrer
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - M K Alam
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA
| | - L Alderson
- School of Physics, University of Bristol, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, Bristol, UK
| | - N H Allen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - A Banerjee
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - S Barat
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - D Barrado
- Centre for Astrobiology (CSIC-INTA), European Space Astronomy Centre Campus, University of Maria de Maeztu, Madrid, Spain
| | - J K Barstow
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - T J Bell
- BAER Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Mountain View, CA, USA
| | - J Blecic
- 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, UAE
| | - J Brande
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - S Casewell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Q Changeat
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Baltimore Office, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
| | - K L Chubb
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - N Crouzet
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - T Daylan
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - L Decin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - J Désert
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - T Mikal-Evans
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - A D Feinstein
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - L Flagg
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - J J Fortney
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - J Harrington
- Planetary Science Group, Department of Physics and Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - K Heng
- University Observatory Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Y Hong
- Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - R Hu
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - N Iro
- Institute for Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - T Kataria
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - E M-R Kempton
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - J Krick
- California Institute of Technology, IPAC, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - M Lendl
- Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - J Lillo-Box
- Centre for Astrobiology (CSIC-INTA), European Space Astronomy Centre Campus, University of Maria de Maeztu, Madrid, Spain
| | - A Louca
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - L Mancini
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- INAF - Astrophysics Observatory at Turin, Turin, Italy
- Department of Physics, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy
| | - M Mansfield
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - N J Mayne
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Y Miguel
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - G Morello
- Institute for Astrophysics of Canarias (IAC), La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Department of Astrophysics, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- INAF Äì Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Palermo, Italy
| | - K Ohno
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - E Palle
- Institute for Astrophysics of Canarias (IAC), La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | | | - B 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
| | - M Radica
- Institute of Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - L Ramos-Rosado
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - S Redfield
- Astronomy Department and Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
| | - L K Rogers
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - E L Shkolnik
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - J Southworth
- Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK
| | - J Teske
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA
| | - P Tremblin
- UVSQ, CNRS, CEA, Maison de la Simulation, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - G S Tucker
- Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - O Venot
- Université de Paris Cité and Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France
| | - W C Waalkes
- Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - L Welbanks
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - X Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - S Zieba
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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7
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Alderson L, Wakeford HR, Alam MK, Batalha NE, Lothringer JD, Adams Redai J, Barat S, Brande J, Damiano M, Daylan T, Espinoza N, Flagg L, Goyal JM, Grant D, Hu R, Inglis J, Lee EKH, Mikal-Evans T, Ramos-Rosado L, Roy PA, Wallack NL, Batalha NM, Bean JL, Benneke B, Berta-Thompson ZK, Carter AL, Changeat Q, Colón KD, Crossfield IJM, Désert JM, Foreman-Mackey D, Gibson NP, Kreidberg L, Line MR, López-Morales M, Molaverdikhani K, Moran SE, Morello G, Moses JI, Mukherjee S, Schlawin E, Sing DK, Stevenson KB, Taylor J, Aggarwal K, Ahrer EM, Allen NH, Barstow JK, Bell TJ, Blecic J, Casewell SL, Chubb KL, Crouzet N, Cubillos PE, Decin L, Feinstein AD, Fortney JJ, Harrington J, Heng K, Iro N, Kempton EMR, Kirk J, Knutson HA, Krick J, Leconte J, Lendl M, MacDonald RJ, Mancini L, Mansfield M, May EM, Mayne NJ, Miguel Y, Nikolov NK, Ohno K, Palle E, Parmentier V, Petit Dit de la Roche DJM, Piaulet C, Powell D, Rackham BV, Redfield S, Rogers LK, Rustamkulov Z, Tan X, Tremblin P, Tsai SM, Turner JD, de Val-Borro M, Venot O, Welbanks L, Wheatley PJ, Zhang X. Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H. Nature 2023; 614:664-669. [PMID: 36623549 PMCID: PMC9946835 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3-5 and high-resolution ground-based6-8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Alderson
- School of Physics, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Hannah R Wakeford
- School of Physics, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Munazza K Alam
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | | | - Jea Adams Redai
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Saugata Barat
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jonathan Brande
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Mario Damiano
- Astrophysics Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Tansu Daylan
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Néstor Espinoza
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Laura Flagg
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jayesh M Goyal
- School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEPS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Jatani, India
| | - David Grant
- School of Physics, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Renyu Hu
- Astrophysics Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Julie Inglis
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Elspeth K H Lee
- Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Pierre-Alexis Roy
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - 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
| | - 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, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | | | - Aarynn L Carter
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Quentin Changeat
- European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Ian J M Crossfield
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Jean-Michel Désert
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Neale P Gibson
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Michael R Line
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | | | - Karan Molaverdikhani
- University Observatory Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Exzellenzcluster Origins, Garching, Germany
| | - Sarah E Moran
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Giuseppe Morello
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
- Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, Spain
- INAF - Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Palermo, Italy
| | | | - Sagnick Mukherjee
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - David K Sing
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kevin B Stevenson
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - Jake Taylor
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Eva-Maria Ahrer
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Natalie H Allen
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Joanna K Barstow
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Taylor J Bell
- Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 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
| | - Sarah L Casewell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Katy L Chubb
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Nicolas Crouzet
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Patricio E Cubillos
- INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - Leen Decin
- Institute of Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Adina D Feinstein
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Joanthan J Fortney
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Harrington
- Planetary Sciences Group, Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
- Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Kevin Heng
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Universitäts-Sternwarte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Nicolas Iro
- Institute for Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eliza M-R Kempton
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - James Kirk
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Heather A Knutson
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Jessica Krick
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Jérémy Leconte
- Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Monika Lendl
- Département d'Astronomie, Université de Genève Sauverny, Versoix, Switzerland
| | - Ryan J MacDonald
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Luigi Mancini
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
- INAF - Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Pino Torinese, Italy
| | | | - Erin M May
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - Nathan J Mayne
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Yamila Miguel
- Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Kazumasa Ohno
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Enric Palle
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain
| | - Vivien Parmentier
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France
| | | | - Caroline Piaulet
- Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Diana Powell
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, 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, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
- Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
| | - Laura K Rogers
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Zafar Rustamkulov
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Xianyu Tan
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - P Tremblin
- Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Versailles St Quentin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Shang-Min Tsai
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jake D Turner
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | - Olivia Venot
- Université de Paris Cité and Université Paris-Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France
| | - Luis Welbanks
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Peter J Wheatley
- Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Xi Zhang
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Hall S. Webb telescope spots CO 2 on exoplanet for first time: what it means for finding alien life. Nature 2022; 609:229-230. [PMID: 36038762 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-022-02350-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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9
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Abstract
The origin of life, based on the homochirality of biomolecules, is a persistent mystery. Did life begin by using both forms of chirality, and then one of the forms disappeared? Or did the choice of homochirality precede the formation of biomolecules that could ensure replication and information transfer? Is the natural choice of L-amino acids and D-sugars on which life is based deterministic or random? Is the handedness present in/of the Universe from its beginning? The whole biosystem on the Earth, all living creatures are chiral. Many theories try to explain the origin of life and chirality on the Earth: e.g., the panspermia hypothesis, the primordial soup hypothesis, theory of parity violation in weak interactions. Additionally, heavy neutrinos and the impact of the fact that only left-handed particles decay, and even dark matter, all have to be considered.
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10
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Wakeford HR, Dalba PA. The exoplanet perspective on future ice giant exploration. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2020; 378:20200054. [PMID: 33161853 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Exoplanets number in their thousands, and the number is ever increasing with the advent of new surveys and improved instrumentation. One of the most surprising things we have learnt from these discoveries is not that small-rocky planets in their stars habitable zones are likely to be common, but that the most typical size of exoplanets is that not seen in our solar system-radii between that of Neptune and the Earth dubbed mini-Neptunes and super-Earths. In fact, a transiting exoplanet is four times as likely to be in this size regime than that of any giant planet in our solar system. Investigations into the atmospheres of giant hydrogen/helium dominated exoplanets has pushed down to Neptune and mini-Neptune-sized worlds revealing molecular absorption from water, scattering and opacity from clouds, and measurements of atmospheric abundances. However, unlike measurements of Jupiter, or even Saturn sized worlds, the smaller giants lack a ground truth on what to expect or interpret from their measurements. How did these sized worlds form and evolve and was it different from their larger counterparts? What is their internal composition and how does that impact their atmosphere? What informs the energy budget of these distant worlds? In this we discuss what characteristics we can measure for exoplanets, and why a mission to the ice giants in our solar system is the logical next step for understanding exoplanets. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Future exploration of ice giant systems'.
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Affiliation(s)
- H R Wakeford
- School of Physics, University of Bristol, HH Wills Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
| | - P A Dalba
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside CA 92521, USA
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11
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Konatham S, Martin-Torres J, Zorzano MP. Atmospheric composition of exoplanets based on the thermal escape of gases and implications for habitability. Proc Math Phys Eng Sci 2020; 476:20200148. [PMID: 33061789 PMCID: PMC7544335 DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2020.0148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The detection of habitable exoplanets is an exciting scientific and technical challenge. Owing to the current and most likely long-lasting impossibility of performing in situ exploration of exoplanets, their study and hypotheses regarding their capability to host life will be based on the restricted low-resolution spatial and spectral information of their atmospheres. On the other hand, with the advent of the upcoming exoplanet survey missions and technological improvements, there is a need for preliminary discrimination that can prioritize potential candidates within the fast-growing list of exoplanets. Here we estimate, for the first time and using the kinetic theory of gases, a list of the possible atmospheric species that can be retained in the atmospheres of the known exoplanets. We conclude that, based on our current knowledge of the detected exoplanets, 45 of them are good candidates for habitability studies. These exoplanets could have Earth-like atmospheres and should be able to maintain stable liquid water. Our results suggest that the current definition of a habitable zone around a star should be revisited and that the capacity of the planet to host an Earth-like atmosphere to support the stability of liquid water should be added.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Konatham
- Group of Atmospheric Science, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
| | - Javier Martin-Torres
- Group of Atmospheric Science, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.,Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Armilla, Granada, Spain.,School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building, King's College, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Maria-Paz Zorzano
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain.,Group of Atmospheric Science, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
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12
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Why Is it So Cold in Here? Explaining the Cold Temperatures Retrieved from Transmission Spectra of Exoplanet Atmospheres. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab8238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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13
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A Hubble PanCET Study of HAT-P-11b: A Cloudy Neptune with a Low Atmospheric Metallicity. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab4e9a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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14
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The Effect of Clouds as an Additional Opacity Source on the Inferred Metallicity of Giant Exoplanets. ATMOSPHERE 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/atmos10110664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Atmospheres regulate the planetary heat loss and therefore influence planetary thermal evolution. Uncertainty in a giant planet’s thermal state contributes to the uncertainty in the inferred abundance of heavy elements it contains. Within an analytic atmosphere model, we here investigate the influence that different cloud opacities and cloud depths can have on the metallicity of irradiated extrasolar gas giants, which is inferred from interior models. In this work, the link between inferred metallicity and assumed cloud properties is the thermal profile of atmosphere and interior. Therefore, we perform coupled atmosphere, interior, and evolution calculations. The atmosphere model includes clouds in a much simplified manner; it includes long-wave absorption but neglects shortwave scattering. Within that model, we show that optically thick, high clouds have negligible influence, whereas deep-seated, optically very thick clouds can lead to warmer deep tropospheres and therefore higher bulk heavy element mass estimates. For the young hot Jupiter WASP-10b, we find a possible enhancement in inferred metallicity of up to 10% due to possible silicate clouds at ∼0.3 bar. For WASP-39b, whose observationally derived metallicity is higher than predicted by cloudless models, we find an enhancement by at most 50%. However, further work on cloud properties and their self-consistent coupling to the atmospheric structure is needed in order to reduce uncertainties in the choice of model parameter values, in particular of cloud opacities.
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15
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Zeng L, Jacobsen SB, Sasselov DD, Petaev MI, Vanderburg A, Lopez-Morales M, Perez-Mercader J, Mattsson TR, Li G, Heising MZ, Bonomo AS, Damasso M, Berger TA, Cao H, Levi A, Wordsworth RD. Growth model interpretation of planet size distribution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:9723-9728. [PMID: 31036661 PMCID: PMC6525489 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1812905116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The radii and orbital periods of 4,000+ confirmed/candidate exoplanets have been precisely measured by the Kepler mission. The radii show a bimodal distribution, with two peaks corresponding to smaller planets (likely rocky) and larger intermediate-size planets, respectively. While only the masses of the planets orbiting the brightest stars can be determined by ground-based spectroscopic observations, these observations allow calculation of their average densities placing constraints on the bulk compositions and internal structures. However, an important question about the composition of planets ranging from 2 to 4 Earth radii (R⊕) still remains. They may either have a rocky core enveloped in a H2-He gaseous envelope (gas dwarfs) or contain a significant amount of multicomponent, H2O-dominated ices/fluids (water worlds). Planets in the mass range of 10-15 M⊕, if half-ice and half-rock by mass, have radii of 2.5 R⊕, which exactly match the second peak of the exoplanet radius bimodal distribution. Any planet in the 2- to 4-R⊕ range requires a gas envelope of at most a few mass percentage points, regardless of the core composition. To resolve the ambiguity of internal compositions, we use a growth model and conduct Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that many intermediate-size planets are "water worlds."
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zeng
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Stein B Jacobsen
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Dimitar D Sasselov
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Michail I Petaev
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Andrew Vanderburg
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
| | - Mercedes Lopez-Morales
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Juan Perez-Mercader
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Thomas R Mattsson
- High Energy Density Physics Theory Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185
| | - Gongjie Li
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30313
| | - Matthew Z Heising
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Aldo S Bonomo
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
| | - Mario Damasso
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
| | - Travis A Berger
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822
| | - Hao Cao
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Amit Levi
- Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, MA 02138
| | - Robin D Wordsworth
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
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16
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Connecting Giant Planet Atmosphere and Interior Modeling: Constraints on Atmospheric Metal Enrichment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab1137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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17
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Exoplanet Atmosphere Forecast: Observers Should Expect Spectroscopic Transmission Features to be Muted to 33%. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.3847/2515-5172/aafc63] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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18
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Spiga R, Barbieri C, Bertini I, Lazzarin M, Nestola F. The origin of water on Earth: stars or diamonds? RENDICONTI LINCEI. SCIENZE FISICHE E NATURALI 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12210-018-0753-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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19
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The HST PanCET Program: Hints of Na i and Evidence of a Cloudy Atmosphere for the Inflated Hot Jupiter WASP-52b. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aaee89] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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20
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An Optical Transmission Spectrum for the Ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b Measured with the Hubble Space Telescope. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aaebff] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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21
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Clear and Cloudy Exoplanet Forecasts for JWST: Maps, Retrieved Composition, and Constraints on Formation with MIRI and NIRCam. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aac774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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22
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23
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An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free 'hot Saturn' exoplanet. Nature 2018; 557:526-529. [PMID: 29736017 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0101-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na I) and potassium (K I) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets1-3. However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles4-6. Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances7-9. Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the 'hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logεNa = [Formula: see text], and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Zp/Zʘ = [Formula: see text]). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets10-12.
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Helium in the eroding atmosphere of an exoplanet. Nature 2018; 557:68-70. [PMID: 29720632 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0067-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Helium is the second-most abundant element in the Universe after hydrogen and is one of the main constituents of gas-giant planets in our Solar System. Early theoretical models predicted helium to be among the most readily detectable species in the atmospheres of exoplanets, especially in extended and escaping atmospheres 1 . Searches for helium, however, have hitherto been unsuccessful 2 . Here we report observations of helium on an exoplanet, at a confidence level of 4.5 standard deviations. We measured the near-infrared transmission spectrum of the warm gas giant 3 WASP-107b and identified the narrow absorption feature of excited metastable helium at 10,833 angstroms. The amplitude of the feature, in transit depth, is 0.049 ± 0.011 per cent in a bandpass of 98 angstroms, which is more than five times greater than what could be caused by nominal stellar chromospheric activity. This large absorption signal suggests that WASP-107b has an extended atmosphere that is eroding at a total rate of 1010 to 3 × 1011 grams per second (0.1-4 per cent of its total mass per billion years), and may have a comet-like tail of gas shaped by radiation pressure.
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Observational Techniques with Transiting Exoplanetary Atmospheres. ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE LIBRARY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-89701-1_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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