St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

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

Thumbnail
View/Open
Ahrer_2023_Nature_Early_release_CC.pdf (9.506Mb)
Date
23/02/2023
Author
Ahrer, Eva-Maria
Stevenson, Kevin B.
Mansfield, Megan
Moran, Sarah E.
Brande, Jonathan
Morello, Giuseppe
Murray, Catriona A.
Nikolov, Nikolay K.
Petit dit de la Roche, Dominique J. M.
Schlawin, Everett
Wheatley, Peter J.
Zieba, Sebastian
Batalha, Natasha E.
Damiano, Mario
Goyal, Jayesh M.
Lendl, Monika
Lothringer, Joshua D.
Mukherjee, Sagnick
Ohno, Kazumasa
Batalha, Natalie M.
Battley, Matthew P.
Bean, Jacob L.
Beatty, Thomas G.
Benneke, Björn
Berta-Thompson, Zachory K.
Carter, Aarynn L.
Cubillos, Patricio E.
Daylan, Tansu
Espinoza, Néstor
Gao, Peter
Gibson, Neale P.
Gill, Samuel
Harrington, Joseph
Hu, Renyu
Kreidberg, Laura
Lewis, Nikole K.
Line, Michael R.
López-Morales, Mercedes
Parmentier, Vivien
Powell, Diana K.
Sing, David K.
Tsai, Shang-Min
Wakeford, Hannah R.
Welbanks, Luis
Alam, Munazza K.
Alderson, Lili
Allen, Natalie H.
Anderson, David R.
Barstow, Joanna K.
Bayliss, Daniel
Bell, Taylor J.
Blecic, Jasmina
Bryant, Edward M.
Burleigh, Matthew R.
Carone, Ludmila
Casewell, S. L.
Changeat, Quentin
Chubb, Katy L.
Crossfield, Ian J. M.
Crouzet, Nicolas
Decin, Leen
Désert, Jean-Michel
Feinstein, Adina D.
Flagg, Laura
Fortney, Jonathan J.
Gizis, John E.
Heng, Kevin
Iro, Nicolas
Kempton, Eliza M. -R.
Kendrew, Sarah
Kirk, James
Knutson, Heather A.
Komacek, Thaddeus D.
Lagage, Pierre-Olivier
Leconte, Jérémy
Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob
MacDonald, Ryan J.
Mancini, Luigi
May, E. M.
Mayne, N. J.
Miguel, Yamila
Mikal-Evans, Thomas
Molaverdikhani, Karan
Palle, Enric
Piaulet, Caroline
Rackham, Benjamin V.
Redfield, Seth
Rogers, Laura K.
Roy, Pierre-Alexis
Rustamkulov, Zafar
Shkolnik, Evgenya L.
Sotzen, Kristin S.
Taylor, Jake
Tremblin, P.
Tucker, Gregory S.
Turner, Jake D.
de Val-Borro, Miguel
Venot, Olivia
Zhang, Xi
Keywords
QB Astronomy
DAS
MCC
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
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 e.g., 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 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 H2O in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of CH4. The otherwise prominent CO2 feature at 2.8 µm is largely masked by H2O. 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., refs.3,4) or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere (e.g., refs.5,6).
Citation
Ahrer , E-M , Stevenson , K B , Mansfield , M , Moran , S E , Brande , J , Morello , G , Murray , C A , Nikolov , N K , Petit dit de la Roche , D J M , Schlawin , E , Wheatley , P J , Zieba , S , Batalha , N E , Damiano , M , Goyal , J M , Lendl , M , Lothringer , J D , Mukherjee , S , Ohno , K , Batalha , N M , Battley , M P , Bean , J L , Beatty , T G , Benneke , B , Berta-Thompson , Z K , Carter , A L , Cubillos , P E , Daylan , T , Espinoza , N , Gao , P , Gibson , N P , Gill , S , Harrington , J , Hu , R , Kreidberg , L , Lewis , N K , Line , M R , López-Morales , M , Parmentier , V , Powell , D K , Sing , D K , Tsai , S-M , Wakeford , H R , Welbanks , L , Alam , M K , Alderson , L , Allen , N H , Anderson , D R , Barstow , J K , Bayliss , D , Bell , T J , Blecic , J , Bryant , E M , Burleigh , M R , Carone , L , Casewell , S L , Changeat , Q , Chubb , K L , Crossfield , I J M , Crouzet , N , Decin , L , Désert , J-M , Feinstein , A D , Flagg , L , Fortney , J J , Gizis , J E , Heng , K , Iro , N , Kempton , E M -R , Kendrew , S , Kirk , J , Knutson , H A , Komacek , T D , Lagage , P-O , Leconte , J , Lustig-Yaeger , J , MacDonald , R J , Mancini , L , May , E M , Mayne , N J , Miguel , Y , Mikal-Evans , T , Molaverdikhani , K , Palle , E , Piaulet , C , Rackham , B V , Redfield , S , Rogers , L K , Roy , P-A , Rustamkulov , Z , Shkolnik , E L , Sotzen , K S , Taylor , J , Tremblin , P , Tucker , G S , Turner , J D , de Val-Borro , M , Venot , O & Zhang , X 2023 , ' Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam ' , Nature , vol. 614 , no. 7949 , pp. 653–658 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05590-4
Publication
Nature
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05590-4
ISSN
0028-0836
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Description
Funding: The NGTS facility is operated by a consortium of institutes with support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) under projects ST/M001962/1, ST/S002642/1 and ST/W003163/1. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission, obtained from MAST at STScI. Funding for the TESS mission is provided by the NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. This article is supported by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to fund open access through the University of Warwick.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/26994

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter