Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRISS

Author(s): Adina D. Feinstein, Michael Radica, Luis Welbanks, Catriona Anne Murray, Kazumasa Ohno, Louis Philippe Coulombe, Néstor Espinoza, Jacob L. Bean, Johanna K. Teske, Björn Benneke, Michael R. Line, Zafar Rustamkulov, Arianna Saba, Angelos Tsiaras, Joanna K. Barstow, Jonathan J. Fortney, Peter Gao, Heather A. Knutson, Ryan J. MacDonald, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Benjamin V. Rackham, Jake Taylor, Vivien Parmentier, Natalie M. Batalha, Zachory K. Berta-Thompson, Aarynn L. Carter, Quentin Changeat, Leonardo A. dos Santos, Neale P. Gibson, Jayesh M. Goyal, Laura Kreidberg, Mercedes López-Morales, Joshua D. Lothringer, Yamila Miguel, Karan Molaverdikhani, Sarah E. Moran, Giuseppe Morello, Sagnick Mukherjee, David K. Sing, Kevin B. Stevenson, Hannah R. Wakeford, Eva Maria Ahrer, Munazza K. Alam, Lili Alderson, Natalie H. Allen, Natasha E. Batalha, Taylor J. Bell, Jasmina Blecic, Jonathan Brande, Claudio Caceres, S. L. Casewell, Katy L. Chubb, Ian J.M. Crossfield, Nicolas Crouzet, Patricio E. Cubillos, Leen Decin, Jean Michel Désert, Joseph Harrington, Kevin Heng, Thomas Henning, Nicolas Iro, Eliza M.R. Kempton, Sarah Kendrew, James Kirk, Jessica Krick, Pierre Olivier Lagage, Monika Lendl, Luigi Mancini, Megan Mansfield, E. M. May, N. J. Mayne, Nikolay K. Nikolov, Enric Palle, Dominique J.M. Petit dit de la Roche, Caroline Piaulet, Diana Powell, Seth Redfield, Laura K. Rogers, Michael T. Roman, Pierre Alexis Roy, Matthew C. Nixon, Everett Schlawin, Xianyu Tan, P. Tremblin, Jake D. Turner, Olivia Venot, William C. Waalkes, Peter J. Wheatley, Xi Zhang
Abstract: The Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b has been the subject of extensive efforts to determine its atmospheric properties using transmission spectroscopy^1–4. However, these efforts have been hampered by modelling degeneracies between composition and cloud properties that are caused by limited data quality^5–9. 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.
Organisation(s): Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s): University of Chicago, University of Montreal, Arizona State University, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of California, Santa Cruz, Space Telescope Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Institution for Science, Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, University College London, INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Open University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), University of Michigan, Cornell University, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, Université Côte d'Azur, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESA), University of Dublin, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Utah Valley University, Leiden University, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, University of Arizona, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, University of La Laguna, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, University of Bristol, University of Warwick, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), New York University Abu Dhabi, University of Kansas, Andrés Bello National University , University of Leicester, University of St. Andrews, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University of Amsterdam (UvA), University of Central Florida, Universität Bern, University of Maryland, College Park, Imperial College London, Université Paris Saclay, Université de Genève, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", University of Exeter, Wesleyan University, University of Cambridge, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, IRFU CEA-Saclay laboratory , Université Paris VII - Paris-Diderot
Journal: Nature
Volume: 614
Pages: 670-675
No. of pages: 6
ISSN: 0028-0836
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1
Publication date: 02-2023
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 105208 Atmospheric chemistry
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/013ad80e-9038-434f-9a42-76c8c5c2fbc6

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