IGRINS Archives - Astrobiology

Summary of our observations and detrending process.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

The Roasting Marshmallows Program with IGRINS on Gemini South V: Atmosphere of MASCARA-1b is Enriched in Refractory Elements

by Keith CowingJune 10, 2026June 10, 2026

Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs; Teq≳2000 K) enable simultaneous detection of volatile (ice-forming) and refractory (rock-forming) species in planetary atmospheres, providing a powerful diagnostic of planet formation and atmospheric processing.

Additional analysis for the tentative cross-correlation signal observed for H2S. We show the cross-correlation S/N as a function of the orbital parameters of the planet. In each case, the expected parameters are marked with crosshairs. Left: The S/N is shown as a function of planetary velocity space, parameterised by 𝐾p and 𝑉sys, reproduced from the top panel of Figure 3 but with a more zoomed in colorscale. A tentative peak with a S/N of 1.7 is observed at the expected systemic velocity. Right: the time duration of the observed H2S cross-correlation signal is constrained with a value that is consistent with the literature value for the transit duration of the planet. This is measured by varying the number of spectra considered to be in-transit (𝑁in) when calculating the cross-correlation S/N, with 𝐾p fixed to that expected for this planet. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Ground-based Atmospheric Characterization of Super-Earth L 98-59 d at High Spectral Resolution

by Keith CowingMarch 8, 2026March 8, 2026

Atmospheric characterization of exoplanets using ground-based high-resolution transmission spectroscopy has traditionally focussed on large and close-in planets, such as hot Jupiters.

Cross-correlation SNRs as a function of systemic velocity (Vsys) and Keplerian velocity (Kp) for H2O, CH4, CO2, and CO from the four nights combined. We detect H2O at an SNR of 3.51 but do not detect any carbon-bearing species, although CO may be a tenative detection. The white dashed lines represent the Vsys and Kp values of WASP-43b from the literature (Gaia Collaboration et al. 2018; Bonomo et al. 2017). The red x’s indicate the maximum signal from the literature (Gaia Collaboration et al. 2018; Bonomo et al. 2017). The red x’s indicate the maximum signal from the cross-correlation. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Measurement of the Water Abundance in the Atmosphere of the Hot Jupiter WASP-43b with High-resolution Cross-correlation Spectroscopy

by Keith CowingNovember 28, 2024November 28, 2024

Measuring the abundances of carbon- and oxygen-bearing molecules has been a primary focus in studying the atmospheres of hot Jupiters, as doing so can help constrain the carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. […]

Schematic of scope pipeline. This example uses a planetary emission spectrum calculated with the CHIMERA (Line et al. 2013) atmospheric model as input. This simulation is meant to reconstruct the IGRINS dataset used to identify the emission of WASP-77Ab by Line et al. (2021). The slight discontinuity in the planetary emission tracks is due to a gap in exposures corresponding to these observations. The SNR of this simulation matches the SNR of the Line et al. 2021 observations (SNR=12.8); 9 other noise realizations span SNRs from 11.0 to 19.0. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Forward-modeling The Uncertainty Budget of High-resolution Spectroscopy of Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingNovember 14, 2024November 14, 2024

Ground-based high-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy (HRCCS; R >~ 15,000) is a powerful complement to space-based studies of exoplanet atmospheres. By resolving individual spectral lines, HRCCS can precisely measure chemical abundance ratios, […]

The detections of H2O, CO, and total atmospheric signal in the atmosphere of WASP-127 b. The CC maps shown here are generated by cross-correlating the residual data with solar composition RCTE models with opacity from H2O alone, CO alone, and all absorbers respectively. The tellurics have been masked and the out-of-transit frames have been cropped in the residual data. The white dashed lines in these maps denote the literature reported values of Vsys0 and Kp0 for the WASP-127 b system. The red cross indicates the peak value of the SNR within each map. Similar to the trail, the peak signal in these maps can be seen blue shifted. The bottom red curves under each panel shows the row/cross-section of the CC SNRs at the peak Kp. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

IGRINS Observations of WASP-127 b: H2O, CO, and Super-Solar Atmospheric Metallicity in the Inflated sub-Saturn

by Keith CowingJune 21, 2024June 21, 2024

High resolution spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres provides insights into their composition and dynamics from the resolved line shape and depth of thousands of spectral lines. WASP-127 b is an extremely […]

Recovery of an NH3 signal injected with zero orbital velocity. The detection S/N across 𝐾p- 𝑉sys space is shown when an NH3 signal is injected into the spectra with no semi-amplitude radial velocity (𝐾p= 0 km s−1 ) and no barycentric velocity correction and then recovered as in Figure 2. A signal with a S/N of 4.7, unconstrained in 𝐾p, is recovered at the correct 𝑉sys .astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Feasibility Of High-Resolution Transmission Spectroscopy For Low-Velocity Exoplanets

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2024March 29, 2024

In recent years, high-resolution transmission spectroscopy in the near-infrared has led to detections of prominent molecules in several giant exoplanets on close-in orbits.

Model transmission spectra used for cross-correlation. Top: Transmission spectra with contributions from H2O (blue), CH4 (brown) and NH3 (green), with the spectral baseline set by H2-H2 and H2-He collision-induced absorption. Bottom: Cloud-free and cloudy transmission spectra for the CH4 model with a grey-opacity cloud deck placed at various cloud top pressures. The cloud-free spectrum shown in brown is the same in both figures. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

High-resolution Spectroscopic Reconnaissance Of A Temperate Sub-Neptune

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2024

The study of temperate sub-Neptunes is the new frontier in exoplanetary science. A major development in the past year has been the first detection of carbon-bearing molecules in the atmosphere […]