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

Adina D. Feinstein (), Michael Radica, Luis Welbanks, Catriona Anne Murray, Kazumasa Ohno, Louis-Philippe Coulombe, Néstor Espinoza, Jacob L. Bean, Johanna K. Teske, Björn Benneke, Michael R. Line, Zafar Rustamkulov, Arianna Saba, Angelos Tsiaras, Joanna K. Barstow, Jonathan J. Fortney, Peter Gao, Heather A. Knutson, Ryan J. MacDonald, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Benjamin V. Rackham, Jake Taylor, Vivien Parmentier, Natalie M. Batalha, Zachory K. Berta-Thompson, Aarynn L. Carter, Quentin Changeat, Leonardo A. Santos, Neale P. Gibson, Jayesh M. Goyal, Laura Kreidberg, Mercedes López-Morales, Joshua D. Lothringer, Yamila Miguel, Karan Molaverdikhani, Sarah E. Moran, Giuseppe Morello, Sagnick Mukherjee, David K. Sing, Kevin B. Stevenson, Hannah R. Wakeford, Eva-Maria Ahrer, Munazza K. Alam, Lili Alderson, Natalie H. Allen, Natasha E. Batalha, Taylor J. Bell, Jasmina Blecic, Jonathan Brande, Claudio Caceres, S. L. Casewell, Katy L. Chubb, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Nicolas Crouzet, Patricio E. Cubillos, Leen Decin, Jean-Michel Désert, Joseph Harrington, Kevin Heng, Thomas Henning, Nicolas Iro, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Sarah Kendrew, James Kirk, Jessica Krick, Pierre-Olivier Lagage, Monika Lendl, Luigi Mancini, Megan Mansfield, E. M. May, N. J. Mayne, Nikolay K. Nikolov, Enric Palle, Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la Roche, Caroline Piaulet, Diana Powell, Seth Redfield, Laura K. Rogers, Michael T. Roman, Pierre-Alexis Roy, Matthew C. Nixon, Everett Schlawin, Xianyu Tan, P. Tremblin, Jake D. Turner, Olivia Venot, William C. Waalkes, Peter J. Wheatley and Xi Zhang
Additional contact information
Adina D. Feinstein: University of Chicago
Michael Radica: Université de Montréal
Luis Welbanks: Arizona State University
Catriona Anne Murray: University of Colorado Boulder
Kazumasa Ohno: University of California, Santa Cruz
Louis-Philippe Coulombe: Université de Montréal
Néstor Espinoza: Space Telescope Science Institute
Jacob L. Bean: University of Chicago
Johanna K. Teske: Carnegie Institution for Science
Björn Benneke: Université de Montréal
Michael R. Line: Arizona State University
Zafar Rustamkulov: Johns Hopkins University
Arianna Saba: University College London
Angelos Tsiaras: University College London
Joanna K. Barstow: The Open University
Jonathan J. Fortney: University of California, Santa Cruz
Peter Gao: Carnegie Institution for Science
Heather A. Knutson: California Institute of Technology
Ryan J. MacDonald: University of Michigan
Thomas Mikal-Evans: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Benjamin V. Rackham: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jake Taylor: Université de Montréal
Vivien Parmentier: University of Oxford
Natalie M. Batalha: University of California, Santa Cruz
Zachory K. Berta-Thompson: University of Colorado Boulder
Aarynn L. Carter: University of California, Santa Cruz
Quentin Changeat: Space Telescope Science Institute
Leonardo A. Santos: Space Telescope Science Institute
Neale P. Gibson: Trinity College Dublin
Jayesh M. Goyal: National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI)
Laura Kreidberg: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Mercedes López-Morales: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Joshua D. Lothringer: Utah Valley University
Yamila Miguel: University of Leiden
Karan Molaverdikhani: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Sarah E. Moran: University of Arizona
Giuseppe Morello: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)
Sagnick Mukherjee: University of California, Santa Cruz
David K. Sing: Johns Hopkins University
Kevin B. Stevenson: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Hannah R. Wakeford: University of Bristol
Eva-Maria Ahrer: University of Warwick
Munazza K. Alam: Carnegie Institution for Science
Lili Alderson: University of Bristol
Natalie H. Allen: Johns Hopkins University
Natasha E. Batalha: NASA Ames Research Center
Taylor J. Bell: NASA Ames Research Center
Jasmina Blecic: New York University Abu Dhabi
Jonathan Brande: University of Kansas
Claudio Caceres: Universidad Andrés Bello
S. L. Casewell: University of Leicester
Katy L. Chubb: University of St Andrews
Ian J. M. Crossfield: University of Kansas
Nicolas Crouzet: University of Leiden
Patricio E. Cubillos: INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino
Leen Decin: KU Leuven
Jean-Michel Désert: University of Amsterdam
Joseph Harrington: University of Central Florida
Kevin Heng: Universitäts-Sternwarte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Thomas Henning: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Nicolas Iro: University of Vienna
Eliza M.-R. Kempton: University of Maryland
Sarah Kendrew: Space Telescope Science Institute
James Kirk: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Jessica Krick: California Institute of Technology
Pierre-Olivier Lagage: Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM
Monika Lendl: Université de Genève Sauverny
Luigi Mancini: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Megan Mansfield: University of Arizona
E. M. May: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
N. J. Mayne: University of Exeter
Nikolay K. Nikolov: Space Telescope Science Institute
Enric Palle: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)
Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la Roche: Université de Genève Sauverny
Caroline Piaulet: Université de Montréal
Diana Powell: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Seth Redfield: Wesleyan University
Laura K. Rogers: University of Cambridge
Michael T. Roman: University of Leicester
Pierre-Alexis Roy: Université de Montréal
Matthew C. Nixon: University of Maryland
Everett Schlawin: University of Arizona
Xianyu Tan: University of Oxford
P. Tremblin: Maison de la Simulation, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Versailles St Quentin, Université Paris-Saclay
Jake D. Turner: Cornell University
Olivia Venot: Université de Paris Cité and Université Paris-Est Creteil, CNRS, LISA
William C. Waalkes: University of Colorado Boulder
Peter J. Wheatley: University of Warwick
Xi Zhang: University of California, Santa Cruz

Nature, 2023, vol. 614, issue 7949, 670-675

Abstract: Abstract The Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b has been the subject of extensive efforts to determine its atmospheric properties using transmission spectroscopy1–4. However, these efforts have been hampered by modelling degeneracies between composition and cloud properties that are caused by limited data quality5–9. Here we present the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b obtained using the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans 0.6–2.8 μm in wavelength and shows several water-absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet and signatures of clouds. The precision and broad wavelength coverage of NIRISS/SOSS allows us to break model degeneracies between cloud properties and the atmospheric composition of WASP-39b, favouring a heavy-element enhancement (‘metallicity’) of about 10–30 times the solar value, a sub-solar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio and a solar-to-super-solar potassium-to-oxygen (K/O) ratio. The observations are also best explained by wavelength-dependent, non-grey clouds with inhomogeneous coverageof the planet’s terminator.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1

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