1. |
- Bell, Taylor, et al.
(author)
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Nightside clouds and disequilibrium chemistry on the hot Jupiter WASP-43b
- 2024
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In: Nature Astronomy. - 2397-3366. ; 8:7, s. 879-898
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hot Jupiters are among the best-studied exoplanets, but it is still poorly understood how their chemical composition and cloud properties vary with longitude. Theoretical models predict that clouds may condense on the nightside and that molecular abundances can be driven out of equilibrium by zonal winds. Here we report a phase-resolved emission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b measured from 5 μm to 12 μm with the JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument. The spectra reveal a large day–night temperature contrast (with average brightness temperatures of 1,524 ± 35 K and 863 ± 23 K, respectively) and evidence for water absorption at all orbital phases. Comparisons with three-dimensional atmospheric models show that both the phase-curve shape and emission spectra strongly suggest the presence of nightside clouds that become optically thick to thermal emission at pressures greater than ~100 mbar. The dayside is consistent with a cloudless atmosphere above the mid-infrared photosphere. Contrary to expectations from equilibrium chemistry but consistent with disequilibrium kinetics models, methane is not detected on the nightside (2σ upper limit of 1–6 ppm, depending on model assumptions). Our results provide strong evidence that the atmosphere of WASP-43b is shaped by disequilibrium processes and provide new insights into the properties of the planet’s nightside clouds. However, the remaining discrepancies between our observations and our predictive atmospheric models emphasize the importance of further exploring the effects of clouds and disequilibrium chemistry in numerical models.
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2. |
- Carter, Aarynn L., et al.
(author)
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A benchmark JWST near-infrared spectrum for the exoplanet WASP-39 b
- 2024
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In: Nature Astronomy. - 2397-3366. ; In Press
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A combined analysis of datasets across four JWST instrument modes provides a benchmark transmission spectrum for the Saturn-mass WASP-39 b. The broad wavelength range and high resolution constrain orbital and stellar parameters to below 1%.
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3. |
- Powell, Diana, et al.
(author)
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Sulfur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b
- 2024
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In: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 626:8001, s. 979-983
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations1–3 suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm)4–9. However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS)10. Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.
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