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Simultaneous Retrieval of Orbital Phase Resolved JWST/MIRI Emission Spectra of the Hot Jupiter WASP-43b: Evidence of Water, Ammonia and Carbon Monoxide

By Keith Cowing

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astro-ph.EP

June 6, 2024

Filed under astro-ph.EP, astrochemistry, atmosphere, exoplanet, hot jupiter, JWST, JWST MIRI, organic chemistry, Spectroscopy, WASP-43, WASP-43 b

Simultaneous Retrieval of Orbital Phase Resolved JWST/MIRI Emission Spectra of the Hot Jupiter WASP-43b: Evidence of Water, Ammonia and Carbon Monoxide — Comparison of dayside thermochemical equilibrium abundances with the chemical abundances retrieved from the MIRI data. The shaded regions represent a range of 1D thermochemical equilibrium models consistent with our estimated metallicity in 3.2. The horizontal error bars show the 1𝜎 credible intervals of our retrieved molecular abundances using the MIRI data. The right edge of the red horizontal arrow shows the 95% upper limit of CH4 abundance retrieved using the MIRI data. Note that the vertical coordinates of the error bars and the arrow are arbitrary. — astro-ph.EP

Spectroscopic phase curves of hot Jupiters measure their emission spectra at multiple orbital phases, thus enabling detailed characterisation of their atmospheres. Precise constraints on the atmospheric composition of these exoplanets offer insights into their formation and evolution.

We analyse four phase-resolved emission spectra of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b, generated from a phase curve observed with the MIRI/LRS onboard the JWST, to retrieve its atmospheric properties. Using a parametric 2D temperature model and assuming a chemically homogeneous atmosphere within the observed pressure region, we simultaneously fit the four spectra to constrain the abundances of atmospheric constituents, thereby yielding more precise constraints than previous work that analysed each spectrum independently.

Our analysis reveals statistically significant evidence of NH₃ (4σ) in a hot Jupiter’s emission spectra for the first time, along with evidence of H₂O (6.5σ), CO (3.1σ), and a non-detection of CH₄. With our abundance constraints, we tentatively estimate the metallicity of WASP-43b at 0.6-6.5×solar and its C/O ratio at 0.6-0.9. Our findings offer vital insights into the atmospheric conditions and formation history of WASP-43b by simultaneously constraining the abundances of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen-bearing species.

Jingxuan Yang, Mark Hammond, Anjali A. A. Piette, Jasmina Blecic, Taylor J. Bell, Patrick G.J. Irwin, Vivien Parmentier, Shang-Min Tsai, Joanna K. Barstow, Nicolas Crouzet, Laura Kreidberg, João M. Mendonça, Jake Taylor, Robin Baeyens, Kazumasa Ohno, Lucas Teinturier, Matthew C. Nixon

Comments: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Comments welcome!
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:2406.03490 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2406.03490v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.03490
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Submission history
From: Jingxuan Yang Mr
[v1] Wed, 5 Jun 2024 17:54:24 UTC (3,994 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.03490
Astrobiology

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

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