Vanadium oxide and a sharp onset of cold-trapping on a giant exoplanet

The abundance of refractory elements in giant planets can provide key insights into their formation histories1. Owing to the low temperatures of the Solar System giants, refractory elements condense below the cloud deck, limiting sensing capabilities to only highly volatile elements2. Recently, ultra-hot giant exoplanets have allowed for some refractory elements to be measured, showing abundances broadly consistent with the solar nebula with titanium probably condensed out of the photosphere3,4. Here we report precise abundance constraints of 14 major refractory elements on the ultra-hot giant planet WASP-76b that show distinct deviations from proto-solar and a sharp onset in condensation temperature. In particular, we find nickel to be enriched, a possible sign of the accretion of the core of a differentiated object during the evolution of the planet. Elements with condensation temperatures below 1,550 K otherwise closely match those of the Sun5 before sharply transitioning to being strongly depleted above 1,550 K, which is well explained by nightside cold-trapping. We further unambiguously detect vanadium oxide on WASP-76b, a molecule long suggested to drive atmospheric thermal inversions6, and also observe a global east-west asymmetry7 in its absorption signals. Overall, our findings indicate that giant planets have a mostly stellar-like refractory elemental content and suggest that temperature sequences of hot Jupiter spectra can show abrupt transitions wherein a mineral species is either present or completely absent if a cold trap exists below its condensation temperature8.

Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

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.

UV absorption by silicate cloud precursors in ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-178b

Aerosols have been found to be nearly ubiquitous in substellar atmospheres^1-3. The precise temperature at which these aerosols begin to form in exoplanets has yet to be observationally constrained. Theoretical models and observations of muted spectral features indicate that silicate clouds play an important role in exoplanets between at least 950 and 2,100 K (ref. ⁴). Some giant planets, however, are thought to be hot enough to avoid condensation altogether^5,6. Here we report the near-ultraviolet transmission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-178b (approximately 2,450 K), which exhibits substantial absorption. Bayesian retrievals indicate the presence of gaseous refractory species containing silicon and magnesium, which are the precursors to condensate clouds at lower temperatures. SiO, in particular, has not previously, to our knowledge, been detected in exoplanets, but the presence of SiO in WASP-178b is consistent with theoretical expectations as the dominant Si-bearing species at high temperatures. These observations allow us to re-interpret previous observations of HAT-P-41b and WASP-121b that did not consider SiO, to suggest that silicate cloud formation begins on exoplanets with equilibrium temperatures between 1,950 and 2,450 K.

Frequency comb referenced spectroscopy of A-X 0-0 transitions in SH

We report absolute transition frequencies for the allowed transitions from the X²Π_3/2, v^″ = 0, J″ = 3/2 rovibronic ground state of ³²S¹H to the A²Σ⁺, v^' = 0 vibronic state. The frequencies have been determined with an uncertainty of less than 1 MHz, representing a more than 1000-fold improvement over previous measurements. Spectral traces are measured by scanning a frequency comb stabilized continuous-wave spectroscopy laser over the molecular transitions and detecting laser-induced fluorescence from SH molecules in a highly collimated molecular beam. To determine the absolute transition frequencies, the traces are fit with a quantum-mechanical model that accounts for saturation effects and shifts due to quantum interference. The model also provides estimates of the predissociation rate of the excited-state levels. Weighted averages of the hyperfine-resolved transition frequencies are computed in order to enable comparisons to measurements where the hyperfine structure is not resolved. These hyperfine-averaged frequencies indicate that the absolute transition frequencies determined in previous measurements were about ∼2.1 GHz (0.07 cm^-1) too high. Finally, the measured transition frequencies are fit using an effective Hamiltonian model, resulting in more precise estimates of the spectroscopic constants.

Molecular simulations for the spectroscopic detection of atmospheric gases

The remote identification of molecules in an atmosphere requires data for each gas that makes contributions to its spectra. We present a database of approximate spectra for thousands of volatiles, simulated using organic and quantum chemistry.