Sulfur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2024

The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations1–3 suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm)4–9. However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS)10. Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.

Sulfur Dioxide

Extraterrestrial Environment

Atmosphere

Photochemistry

Light

Författare

Diana Powell

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

University of Chicago

A. D. Feinstein

University of Chicago

University of Colorado at Boulder

Elspeth K.H. Lee

Universität Bern

Michael Zhang

University of Chicago

Shang Min Tsai

University of California

Jake Taylor

Université de Montréal

University of Oxford

J. Kirk

Imperial College London

Taylor Bell

NASA Ames Research Center

J. Barstow

Open University

Peter Gao

Carnegie Institution of Washington

Jacob L. Bean

University of Chicago

Jasmina Blecic

New York University Abu Dhabi

Katy L. Chubb

University of St Andrews

I. J.M. Crossfield

University of Kansas

Sean Jordan

University of Cambridge

D. Kitzmann

University of Colorado at Boulder

Sarah E. Moran

University of Arizona

Giuseppe Morello

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Julianne I. Moses

Space Science Institute

Luis Welbanks

Arizona State University

Jeehyun Yang

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Xi Zhang

University of California

Eva Maria Ahrer

The University of Warwick

Aaron Bello-Arufe

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Jonathan Brande

University of Kansas

Sarah Casewell

University Of Leicester

N. Crouzet

Universiteit Leiden

P. E. Cubillos

Institut fur Weltraumforschung

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

B.O. Demory

Universität Bern

Physics Institute

A. Dyrek

Université Paris-Saclay

Laura Flagg

Cornell University

Renyu Hu

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Julie Inglis

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

K. Jones

Universität Bern

L. Kreidberg

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Mercedes López-Morales

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

P. O. Lagage

Université Paris-Saclay

E. Meier Valdes

Universität Bern

Yamila Miguel

Universiteit Leiden

Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)

Vivien Parmentier

Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur

Anjali A.A. Piette

Carnegie Institution of Washington

Benjamin V. Rackham

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Michael Radica

Université de Montréal

S. Redfield

Wesleyan University

Kevin B. Stevenson

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Hannah R. Wakeford

University of Bristol

Keshav Aggarwal

Indian Institute of Technology

Munazza K. Alam

Carnegie Institution of Washington

Natalie Batalha

University of California

Natasha E. Batalha

NASA Ames Research Center

B. Benneke

Université de Montréal

Zach K. Berta-Thompson

University of Colorado at Boulder

Ryan P. Brady

University College London (UCL)

Claudio Caceres

Núcleo Milenio de Formación Planetaria (NPF)

Universidad Andrés Bello

Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA),

Aarynn L. Carter

University of California

J. M. Desert

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

Joseph Harrington

University of Central Florida

Nicolas Iro

Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)

Michael R. Line

Arizona State University

Joshua D. Lothringer

Utah Valley University

Ryan J. MacDonald

University of Michigan

Luigi Mancini

Universita degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

K. Molaverdikhani

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)

Sagnick Mukherjee

University of California

M. C. Nixon

University of Maryland

A. V. Oza

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Enric Palle

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Zafar Rustamkulov

Johns Hopkins University

David K. Sing

Johns Hopkins University

Maria E. Steinrueck

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Olivia Venot

Université Paris Descartes

P. J. Wheatley

The University of Warwick

Sergey N. Yurchenko

University College London (UCL)

Nature

0028-0836 (ISSN) 1476-4687 (eISSN)

Vol. 626 8001 979-983

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

Atom- och molekylfysik och optik

DOI

10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

PubMed

38232945

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-05-29