SO$_2$, silicate clouds, but no CH$_4$ detected in a warm Neptune

Achrène Dyrek (Korresp. Autor*in), Michiel Min, Leen Decin, Jeroen Bouwman, Nicolas Crouzet, Paul Mollière, Pierre-Olivier Lagage, Thomas Konings, Pascal Tremblin, Manuel Güdel, John Pye, Rens Waters, Thomas Henning, Bart Vandenbussche, Francisco Ardevol Martinez, Ioannis Argyriou, Elsa Ducrot, Linus Heinke, Gwenael Van Looveren, Olivier AbsilDavid Barrado, Pierre Baudoz, Anthony Boccaletti, Christophe Cossou, Alain Coulais, Billy Edwards, René Gastaud, Alistair Glasse, Adrian Glauser, Thomas P. Greene, Sarah Kendrew, Oliver Krause, Fred Lahuis, Michael Mueller, Goran Olofsson, Polychronis Patapis, Daniel Rouan, Pierre Royer, Silvia Scheithauer, Ingo Waldmann, Niall Whiteford, Luis Colina, Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Göran Ostlin, Tom P. Ray, Gillian Wright

Veröffentlichungen: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelPeer Reviewed

Abstract

WASP-107b is a warm (approximately 740 K) transiting planet with a Neptune-like mass of roughly 30.5 M and Jupiter-like radius of about 0.94 R J (refs. 1,2), whose extended atmosphere is eroding 3. Previous observations showed evidence for water vapour and a thick, high-altitude condensate layer in the atmosphere of WASP-107b (refs. 4,5). Recently, photochemically produced sulfur dioxide (SO 2) was detected in the atmosphere of a hot (about 1,200 K) Saturn-mass planet from transmission spectroscopy near 4.05 μm (refs. 6,7), but for temperatures below about 1,000 K, sulfur is predicted to preferably form sulfur allotropes instead of SO 2 (refs. 8–10). Here we report the 9σ detection of two fundamental vibration bands of SO 2, at 7.35 μm and 8.69 μm, in the transmission spectrum of WASP-107b using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of JWST. This discovery establishes WASP-107b as the second irradiated exoplanet with confirmed photochemistry, extending the temperature range of exoplanets exhibiting detected photochemistry from about 1,200 K down to about 740 K. Furthermore, our spectral analysis reveals the presence of silicate clouds, which are strongly favoured (around 7σ) over simpler cloud set-ups. Furthermore, water is detected (around 12σ) but methane is not. These findings provide evidence of disequilibrium chemistry and indicate a dynamically active atmosphere with a super-solar metallicity.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)51-54
Seitenumfang4
FachzeitschriftNature
Jahrgang625
Ausgabenummer7993
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 1 Jan. 2024

ÖFOS 2012

  • 103004 Astrophysik

Fingerprint

Untersuchen Sie die Forschungsthemen von „SO$_2$, silicate clouds, but no CH$_4$ detected in a warm Neptune“. Zusammen bilden sie einen einzigartigen Fingerprint.

Zitationsweisen