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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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3
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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: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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4
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Hartogh P, Lis DC, Bockelée-Morvan D, de Val-Borro M, Biver N, Küppers M, Emprechtinger M, Bergin EA, Crovisier J, Rengel M, Moreno R, Szutowicz S, Blake GA. Ocean-like water in the Jupiter-family comet 103P/Hartley 2. Nature 2011; 478:218-20. [PMID: 21976024 DOI: 10.1038/nature10519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 362] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2011] [Accepted: 08/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
For decades, the source of Earth's volatiles, especially water with a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio (D/H) of (1.558 ± 0.001) × 10(-4), has been a subject of debate. The similarity of Earth's bulk composition to that of meteorites known as enstatite chondrites suggests a dry proto-Earth with subsequent delivery of volatiles by local accretion or impacts of asteroids or comets. Previous measurements in six comets from the Oort cloud yielded a mean D/H ratio of (2.96 ± 0.25) × 10(-4). The D/H value in carbonaceous chondrites, (1.4 ± 0.1) × 10(-4), together with dynamical simulations, led to models in which asteroids were the main source of Earth's water, with ≤10 per cent being delivered by comets. Here we report that the D/H ratio in the Jupiter-family comet 103P/Hartley 2, which originated in the Kuiper belt, is (1.61 ± 0.24) × 10(-4). This result substantially expands the reservoir of Earth ocean-like water to include some comets, and is consistent with the emerging picture of a complex dynamical evolution of the early Solar System.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Hartogh
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Str. 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
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