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

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

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1

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

Nature. 2023 Feb;614(7949):670-675. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

Authors

Adina D Feinstein¹, Michael Radica^{2

3}, Luis Welbanks⁴, Catriona Anne Murray⁵, Kazumasa Ohno⁶, Louis-Philippe Coulombe^{2

3}, Néstor Espinoza^{7

8}, Jacob L Bean⁹, Johanna K Teske¹⁰, Björn Benneke^{2

3}, Michael R Line⁴, Zafar Rustamkulov¹¹, Arianna Saba¹², Angelos Tsiaras^{12

13}, Joanna K Barstow¹⁴, Jonathan J Fortney⁶, Peter Gao¹⁰, Heather A Knutson¹⁵, Ryan J MacDonald^{16

17

18}, Thomas Mikal-Evans¹⁹, Benjamin V Rackham^{20

21}, Jake Taylor^{2

3

22}, Vivien Parmentier^{22

23}, Natalie M Batalha^{6

24}, Zachory K Berta-Thompson⁵, Aarynn L Carter⁶, Quentin Changeat^{7

12

25}, Leonardo A Dos Santos⁷, Neale P Gibson²⁶, Jayesh M Goyal²⁷, Laura Kreidberg¹⁹, Mercedes López-Morales²⁸, Joshua D Lothringer²⁹, Yamila Miguel^{30

31}, Karan Molaverdikhani^{19

32

33}, Sarah E Moran³⁴, Giuseppe Morello^{35

36

37}, Sagnick Mukherjee⁶, David K Sing^{8

11}, Kevin B Stevenson³⁸, Hannah R Wakeford³⁹, Eva-Maria Ahrer^{40

41}, Munazza K Alam¹⁰, Lili Alderson³⁹, Natalie H Allen¹¹, Natasha E Batalha⁴², Taylor J Bell⁴³, Jasmina Blecic^{44

45}, Jonathan Brande⁴⁶, Claudio Caceres^{47

48

49}, S L Casewell⁵⁰, Katy L Chubb⁵¹, Ian J M Crossfield⁴⁶, Nicolas Crouzet³⁰, Patricio E Cubillos^{52

53}, Leen Decin⁵⁴, Jean-Michel Désert⁵⁵, Joseph Harrington^{56

57}, Kevin Heng^{32

41

58}, Thomas Henning¹⁹, Nicolas Iro⁵⁹, Eliza M-R Kempton⁶⁰, Sarah Kendrew²⁵, James Kirk^{28

61}, Jessica Krick⁶², Pierre-Olivier Lagage⁶³, Monika Lendl⁶⁴, Luigi Mancini^{19

65

66}, Megan Mansfield⁶⁷, E M May³⁸, N J Mayne⁶⁸, Nikolay K Nikolov⁷, Enric Palle³⁵, Dominique J M Petit Dit de la Roche⁶⁴, Caroline Piaulet^{2

3}, Diana Powell²⁸, Seth Redfield^{69

70}, Laura K Rogers⁷¹, Michael T Roman^{50

72}, Pierre-Alexis Roy², Matthew C Nixon^{60

71}, Everett Schlawin⁶⁷, Xianyu Tan²², P Tremblin⁷³, Jake D Turner^{17

18}, Olivia Venot⁷⁴, William C Waalkes⁷⁵, Peter J Wheatley^{40

41}, Xi Zhang⁷⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. [email protected].
² Department of Physics, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
³ Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁴ School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
⁵ Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁶ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
⁷ Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁹ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK.
¹³ INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence, Italy.
¹⁴ School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
¹⁵ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
¹⁸ Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
¹⁹ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁰ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²¹ Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²² Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²³ Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France.
²⁴ Astrobiology Program, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
²⁵ European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
²⁶ School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
²⁷ School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEPS), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Jatani, India.
²⁸ Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁹ Department of Physics, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT, USA.
³⁰ Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands.
³¹ SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, The Netherlands.
³² Universitäts-Sternwarte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
³³ Exzellenzcluster Origins, Garching, Germany.
³⁴ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain.
³⁶ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, Spain.
³⁷ INAF - Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Palermo, Italy.
³⁸ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.
³⁹ School of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁴⁰ Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
⁴¹ Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
⁴² NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
⁴³ Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
⁴⁴ Department of Physics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁴⁵ Center for Astro, Particle, and Planetary Physics (CAP3), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁴⁶ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
⁴⁷ Instituto de Astrofísica, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile.
⁴⁸ Núcleo Milenio de Formación Planetaria (NPF), Valparaíso, Chile.
⁴⁹ Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA), Santiago, Chile.
⁵⁰ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
⁵¹ Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
⁵² INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Pino Torinese, Italy.
⁵³ Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria.
⁵⁴ Institute of Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵⁵ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁵⁶ Planetary Sciences Group, Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
⁵⁷ Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
⁵⁸ ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁵⁹ Institute for Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁶⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁶¹ Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁶² Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁶³ Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
⁶⁴ Département d'Astronomie, Université de Genève Sauverny, Versoix, Switzerland.
⁶⁵ Department of Physics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.
⁶⁶ INAF - Turin Astrophysical Observatory, Pino Torinese, Italy.
⁶⁷ Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁶⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
⁶⁹ Astronomy Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
⁷⁰ Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
⁷¹ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁷² Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Campus Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile.
⁷³ Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Versailles St Quentin, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
⁷⁴ Université de Paris Cité and Université Paris-Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA, Paris, France.
⁷⁵ Astrophysics & Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷⁶ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.

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.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding