Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H

Lili Alderson; Hannah R. Wakeford; Munazza K. Alam; Natasha E. Batalha; Joshua D. Lothringer; Jea Adams Redai; Saugata Barat; Jonathan Brande; Mario Damiano; Tansu Daylan; Néstor Espinoza; Laura Flagg; Jayesh M. Goyal; David Grant; Renyu Hu; Julie Inglis; Elspeth K. H. Lee; Thomas Mikal-Evans; Lakeisha Ramos-Rosado; Pierre-Alexis Roy; Nicole L. Wallack; Natalie M. Batalha; Jacob L. Bean; Björn Benneke; Zachory K. Berta-Thompson; Aarynn L. Carter; Quentin Changeat; Knicole D. Colón; Ian J. M. Crossfield; Jean-Michel Désert; Daniel Foreman-Mackey; Neale P. Gibson; Laura Kreidberg; Michael R. Line; Mercedes López-Morales; Karan Molaverdikhani; Sarah E. Moran; Giuseppe Morello; Julianne I. Moses; Sagnick Mukherjee; Everett Schlawin; David K. Sing; Kevin B. Stevenson; Jake Taylor; Keshav Aggarwal; Eva-Maria Ahrer; Natalie H. Allen; Joanna K. Barstow; Taylor J. Bell; Jasmina Blecic; Sarah L. Casewell; Katy L. Chubb; Nicolas Crouzet; Patricio E. Cubillos; Leen Decin; Adina D. Feinstein; Joanthan J. Fortney; Joseph Harrington; Kevin Heng; Nicolas Iro; Eliza M.-R. Kempton; James Kirk; Heather A. Knutson; Jessica Krick; Jérémy Leconte; Monika Lendl; Ryan J. MacDonald; Luigi Mancini; Megan Mansfield; Erin M. May; Nathan J. Mayne; Yamila Miguel; Nikolay K. Nikolov; Kazumasa Ohno; Enric Palle; Vivien Parmentier; Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la Roche; Caroline Piaulet; Diana Powell; Benjamin V. Rackham; Seth Redfield; Laura K. Rogers; Zafar Rustamkulov; Xianyu Tan; P. Tremblin; Shang-Min Tsai; Jake D. Turner; Miguel de Val-Borro; Olivia Venot; Luis Welbanks; Peter J. Wheatley

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H

Lili Alderson^*, Hannah R. Wakeford^*, Munazza K. Alam, Natasha E. Batalha, Joshua D. Lothringer, Jea Adams Redai, Saugata Barat, Jonathan Brande, Mario Damiano, Tansu Daylan, Néstor Espinoza, Laura Flagg, Jayesh M. Goyal, David Grant, Renyu Hu, Julie Inglis, Elspeth K. H. Lee, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Lakeisha Ramos-Rosado, Pierre-Alexis RoyNicole L. Wallack, Natalie M. Batalha, Jacob L. Bean, Björn Benneke, Zachory K. Berta-Thompson, Aarynn L. Carter, Quentin Changeat, Knicole D. Colón, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Jean-Michel Désert, Daniel Foreman-Mackey, Neale P. Gibson, Laura Kreidberg, Michael R. Line, Mercedes López-Morales, Karan Molaverdikhani, Sarah E. Moran, Giuseppe Morello, Julianne I. Moses, Sagnick Mukherjee, Everett Schlawin, David K. Sing, Kevin B. Stevenson, Jake Taylor, Keshav Aggarwal, Eva-Maria Ahrer, Natalie H. Allen, Joanna K. Barstow, Taylor J. Bell, Jasmina Blecic, Sarah L. Casewell, Katy L. Chubb, Nicolas Crouzet, Patricio E. Cubillos, Leen Decin, Adina D. Feinstein, Joanthan J. Fortney, Joseph Harrington, Kevin Heng, Nicolas Iro, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, James Kirk, Heather A. Knutson, Jessica Krick, Jérémy Leconte, Monika Lendl, Ryan J. MacDonald, Luigi Mancini, Megan Mansfield, Erin M. May, Nathan J. Mayne, Yamila Miguel, Nikolay K. Nikolov, Kazumasa Ohno, Enric Palle, Vivien Parmentier, Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la Roche, Caroline Piaulet, Diana Powell, Benjamin V. Rackham, Seth Redfield, Laura K. Rogers, Zafar Rustamkulov, Xianyu Tan, P. Tremblin, Shang-Min Tsai, Jake D. Turner, Miguel de Val-Borro, Olivia Venot, Luis Welbanks, Peter J. Wheatley

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

126 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3,4,5 and high-resolution ground-based6,7,8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	664-669
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature
Volume	614
Issue number	7949
Early online date	9 Jan 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3
Publication status	Published - 23 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund.

Funding Information:
This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund.

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© 2023, The Author(s).

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Alderson, L., Wakeford, H. R., Alam, M. K., Batalha, N. E., Lothringer, J. D., Redai, J. A., Barat, S., Brande, J., Damiano, M., Daylan, T., Espinoza, N., Flagg, L., Goyal, J. M., Grant, D., Hu, R., Inglis, J., Lee, E. K. H., Mikal-Evans, T., Ramos-Rosado, L., ... Wheatley, P. J. (2023). Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H. Nature, 614(7949), 664-669. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

@article{41af9f70524a4ffd92e88d46510c9022,

title = "Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H",

abstract = "Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3,4,5 and high-resolution ground-based6,7,8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.",

author = "Lili Alderson and Wakeford, {Hannah R.} and Alam, {Munazza K.} and Batalha, {Natasha E.} and Lothringer, {Joshua D.} and Redai, {Jea Adams} and Saugata Barat and Jonathan Brande and Mario Damiano and Tansu Daylan and N{\'e}stor Espinoza and Laura Flagg and Goyal, {Jayesh M.} and David Grant and Renyu Hu and Julie Inglis and Lee, {Elspeth K. H.} and Thomas Mikal-Evans and Lakeisha Ramos-Rosado and Pierre-Alexis Roy and Wallack, {Nicole L.} and Batalha, {Natalie M.} and Bean, {Jacob L.} and Bj{\"o}rn Benneke and Berta-Thompson, {Zachory K.} and Carter, {Aarynn L.} and Quentin Changeat and Col{\'o}n, {Knicole D.} and Crossfield, {Ian J. M.} and Jean-Michel D{\'e}sert and Daniel Foreman-Mackey and Gibson, {Neale P.} and Laura Kreidberg and Line, {Michael R.} and Mercedes L{\'o}pez-Morales and Karan Molaverdikhani and Moran, {Sarah E.} and Giuseppe Morello and Moses, {Julianne I.} and Sagnick Mukherjee and Everett Schlawin and Sing, {David K.} and Stevenson, {Kevin B.} and Jake Taylor and Keshav Aggarwal and Eva-Maria Ahrer and Allen, {Natalie H.} and Barstow, {Joanna K.} and Bell, {Taylor J.} and Jasmina Blecic and Casewell, {Sarah L.} and Chubb, {Katy L.} and Nicolas Crouzet and Cubillos, {Patricio E.} and Leen Decin and Feinstein, {Adina D.} and Fortney, {Joanthan J.} and Joseph Harrington and Kevin Heng and Nicolas Iro and Kempton, {Eliza M.-R.} and James Kirk and Knutson, {Heather A.} and Jessica Krick and J{\'e}r{\'e}my Leconte and Monika Lendl and MacDonald, {Ryan J.} and Luigi Mancini and Megan Mansfield and May, {Erin M.} and Mayne, {Nathan J.} and Yamila Miguel and Nikolov, {Nikolay K.} and Kazumasa Ohno and Enric Palle and Vivien Parmentier and Roche, {Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la} and Caroline Piaulet and Diana Powell and Rackham, {Benjamin V.} and Seth Redfield and Rogers, {Laura K.} and Zafar Rustamkulov and Xianyu Tan and P. Tremblin and Shang-Min Tsai and Turner, {Jake D.} and Val-Borro, {Miguel de} and Olivia Venot and Luis Welbanks and Wheatley, {Peter J.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund. Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3",

language = "English",

volume = "614",

pages = "664--669",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "7949",

}

Alderson, L, Wakeford, HR, Alam, MK, Batalha, NE, Lothringer, JD, Redai, JA, Barat, S, Brande, J, Damiano, M, Daylan, T, Espinoza, N, Flagg, L, Goyal, JM, Grant, D, Hu, R, Inglis, J, Lee, EKH, Mikal-Evans, T, Ramos-Rosado, L, Roy, P-A, Wallack, NL, Batalha, NM, Bean, JL, Benneke, B, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Carter, AL, Changeat, Q, Colón, KD, Crossfield, IJM, Désert, J-M, Foreman-Mackey, D, Gibson, NP, Kreidberg, L, Line, MR, López-Morales, M, Molaverdikhani, K, Moran, SE, Morello, G, Moses, JI, Mukherjee, S, Schlawin, E, Sing, DK, Stevenson, KB, Taylor, J, Aggarwal, K, Ahrer, E-M, Allen, NH, Barstow, JK, Bell, TJ, Blecic, J, Casewell, SL, Chubb, KL, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Decin, L, Feinstein, AD, Fortney, JJ, Harrington, J, Heng, K, Iro, N, Kempton, EM-R, Kirk, J, Knutson, HA, Krick, J, Leconte, J, Lendl, M, MacDonald, RJ, Mancini, L, Mansfield, M, May, EM, Mayne, NJ, Miguel, Y, Nikolov, NK, Ohno, K, Palle, E, Parmentier, V, Roche, DJMPDDL, Piaulet, C, Powell, D, Rackham, BV, Redfield, S, Rogers, LK, Rustamkulov, Z, Tan, X, Tremblin, P, Tsai, S-M, Turner, JD, Val-Borro, MD, Venot, O, Welbanks, L & Wheatley, PJ 2023, 'Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H', Nature, vol. 614, no. 7949, pp. 664-669. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H

AU - Alderson, Lili

AU - Wakeford, Hannah R.

AU - Alam, Munazza K.

AU - Batalha, Natasha E.

AU - Lothringer, Joshua D.

AU - Redai, Jea Adams

AU - Barat, Saugata

AU - Brande, Jonathan

AU - Damiano, Mario

AU - Daylan, Tansu

AU - Espinoza, Néstor

AU - Flagg, Laura

AU - Goyal, Jayesh M.

AU - Grant, David

AU - Hu, Renyu

AU - Inglis, Julie

AU - Lee, Elspeth K. H.

AU - Mikal-Evans, Thomas

AU - Ramos-Rosado, Lakeisha

AU - Roy, Pierre-Alexis

AU - Wallack, Nicole L.

AU - Batalha, Natalie M.

AU - Bean, Jacob L.

AU - Benneke, Björn

AU - Berta-Thompson, Zachory K.

AU - Carter, Aarynn L.

AU - Changeat, Quentin

AU - Colón, Knicole D.

AU - Crossfield, Ian J. M.

AU - Désert, Jean-Michel

AU - Foreman-Mackey, Daniel

AU - Gibson, Neale P.

AU - Kreidberg, Laura

AU - Line, Michael R.

AU - López-Morales, Mercedes

AU - Molaverdikhani, Karan

AU - Moran, Sarah E.

AU - Morello, Giuseppe

AU - Moses, Julianne I.

AU - Mukherjee, Sagnick

AU - Schlawin, Everett

AU - Sing, David K.

AU - Stevenson, Kevin B.

AU - Taylor, Jake

AU - Aggarwal, Keshav

AU - Ahrer, Eva-Maria

AU - Allen, Natalie H.

AU - Barstow, Joanna K.

AU - Bell, Taylor J.

AU - Blecic, Jasmina

AU - Casewell, Sarah L.

AU - Chubb, Katy L.

AU - Crouzet, Nicolas

AU - Cubillos, Patricio E.

AU - Decin, Leen

AU - Feinstein, Adina D.

AU - Fortney, Joanthan J.

AU - Harrington, Joseph

AU - Heng, Kevin

AU - Iro, Nicolas

AU - Kempton, Eliza M.-R.

AU - Kirk, James

AU - Knutson, Heather A.

AU - Krick, Jessica

AU - Leconte, Jérémy

AU - Lendl, Monika

AU - MacDonald, Ryan J.

AU - Mancini, Luigi

AU - Mansfield, Megan

AU - May, Erin M.

AU - Mayne, Nathan J.

AU - Miguel, Yamila

AU - Nikolov, Nikolay K.

AU - Ohno, Kazumasa

AU - Palle, Enric

AU - Parmentier, Vivien

AU - Roche, Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la

AU - Piaulet, Caroline

AU - Powell, Diana

AU - Rackham, Benjamin V.

AU - Redfield, Seth

AU - Rogers, Laura K.

AU - Rustamkulov, Zafar

AU - Tan, Xianyu

AU - Tremblin, P.

AU - Tsai, Shang-Min

AU - Turner, Jake D.

AU - Val-Borro, Miguel de

AU - Venot, Olivia

AU - Welbanks, Luis

AU - Wheatley, Peter J.

N1 - Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund. Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for the JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. L.A. acknowledges funding from STFC grant ST/W507337/1 and from the University of Bristol School of Physics PhD Scholarship Fund. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023/2/23

Y1 - 2023/2/23

N2 - Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3,4,5 and high-resolution ground-based6,7,8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.

AB - Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems1,2. Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based3,4,5 and high-resolution ground-based6,7,8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO2 (28.5σ) and H2O (21.5σ), and identify SO2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8σ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO2, underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range10.

UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

DO - 10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 36623549

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 614

SP - 664

EP - 669

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7949

ER -

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H

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