Possible thermochemical disequilibrium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet GJ 436b

Kevin B. Stevenson (), Joseph Harrington, Sarah Nymeyer, Nikku Madhusudhan, Sara Seager, William C. Bowman, Ryan A. Hardy, Drake Deming, Emily Rauscher and Nate B. Lust
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Kevin B. Stevenson: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA
Joseph Harrington: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA
Sarah Nymeyer: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA
Nikku Madhusudhan: Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Sara Seager: Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
William C. Bowman: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA
Ryan A. Hardy: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA
Drake Deming: Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
Emily Rauscher: Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
Nate B. Lust: Planetary Sciences Group, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 464, issue 7292, 1161-1164

Abstract: A 'hot Neptune' low on gas New observations in the infrared provide the first indications of the atmospheric composition of a 'hot Neptune' extrasolar planet, Gliese 436b (GJ 436b). A companion to an M-dwarf star, GJ 436b exhibits a high abundance of carbon monoxide. Water and trace amounts of carbon dioxide are also present but the concentration of methane, expected to be the dominant carbon-bearing species in a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere, is 100,000 times less than predicted for a planet in thermochemical equilibrium. Possible disruptive influences include vertical mixing and methane polymerization. The measurements were accomplished at six wavelengths using the Spitzer Space Telescope while the planet passed behind its parent star on a short, 2.64-day orbit.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09013

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