Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam.
Eva-Maria AhrerKevin B StevensonMegan MansfieldSarah E MoranJonathan BrandeGiuseppe MorelloCatriona A MurrayNikolay K NikolovDominique J M Petit Dit de la RocheEverett SchlawinPeter J WheatleySebastian ZiebaNatasha E BatalhaMario DamianoJayesh M GoyalMonika LendlJoshua D LothringerSagnick MukherjeeKazumasa OhnoNatalie M BatalhaMatthew P BattleyJacob L BeanThomas G BeattyBjörn BennekeZachory K Berta-ThompsonAarynn L CarterPatricio E CubillosTansu DaylanNéstor EspinozaPeter GaoNeale P GibsonSamuel GillJoseph HarringtonRenyu HuLaura KreidbergNikole K LewisMichael R LineMercedes López-MoralesVivien ParmentierDiana K PowellDavid K SingShang-Min TsaiHannah R WakefordLuis WelbanksMunazza K AlamLili AldersonNatalie H AllenDavid R AndersonJoanna K BarstowDaniel BaylissTaylor J BellJasmina BlecicEdward M BryantMatthew R BurleighLudmila CaroneS L CasewellQuentin ChangeatKaty L ChubbIan J M CrossfieldNicolas CrouzetLeen DecinJean-Michel DésertAdina D FeinsteinLaura FlaggJonathan J FortneyJohn E GizisKevin HengNicolas IroEliza M-R KemptonSarah KendrewJames KirkHeather A KnutsonThaddeus D KomacekPierre-Olivier LagageJérémy LeconteJacob Lustig-YaegerRyan J MacDonaldLuigi ManciniE M MayN J MayneYamila MiguelThomas Mikal-EvansKaran MolaverdikhaniEnric PalleCaroline PiauletBenjamin V RackhamSeth RedfieldLaura K RogersPierre-Alexis RoyZafar RustamkulovEvgenya L ShkolnikKristin S SotzenJake TaylorP TremblinGregory S TuckerJake D TurnerMiguel de Val-BorroOlivia VenotXi ZhangPublished in: Nature (2023)
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 e.g., 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 that, 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 µm, exhibit minimal systematics, and reveal well-defined molecular absorption features in the planet's spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous H 2 O in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of CH 4 . The otherwise prominent CO 2 feature at 2.8 µm is largely masked by H 2 O. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1-100× solar (i.e., an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a sub-stellar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation e.g., 3,4 or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere e.g., 5,6 .
Keyphrases
- single molecule
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