A warm Neptune’s methane reveals core mass and vigorous atmospheric mixing

David K. Sing (), Zafar Rustamkulov, Daniel P. Thorngren, Joanna K. Barstow, Pascal Tremblin, Catarina Alves de Oliveira, Tracy L. Beck, Stephan M. Birkmann, Ryan C. Challener, Nicolas Crouzet, Néstor Espinoza, Pierre Ferruit, Giovanna Giardino, Amélie Gressier, Elspeth K. H. Lee, Nikole K. Lewis, Roberto Maiolino, Elena Manjavacas, Bernard J. Rauscher, Marco Sirianni and Jeff A. Valenti
Additional contact information
David K. Sing: Johns Hopkins University
Zafar Rustamkulov: Johns Hopkins University
Daniel P. Thorngren: Johns Hopkins University
Joanna K. Barstow: The Open University
Pascal Tremblin: Maison de la Simulation
Catarina Alves de Oliveira: European Space Astronomy Centre
Tracy L. Beck: Space Telescope Science Institute
Stephan M. Birkmann: European Space Astronomy Centre
Ryan C. Challener: Cornell University
Nicolas Crouzet: Leiden University
Néstor Espinoza: Space Telescope Science Institute
Pierre Ferruit: European Space Astronomy Centre
Giovanna Giardino: ESTEC
Amélie Gressier: Space Telescope Science Institute
Elspeth K. H. Lee: University of Bern
Nikole K. Lewis: Cornell University
Roberto Maiolino: University of Cambridge
Elena Manjavacas: Johns Hopkins University
Bernard J. Rauscher: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Marco Sirianni: Space Telescope Science Institute
Jeff A. Valenti: Space Telescope Science Institute

Nature, 2024, vol. 630, issue 8018, 831-835

Abstract: Abstract Observations of transiting gas giant exoplanets have revealed a pervasive depletion of methane1–4, which has only recently been identified atmospherically5,6. The depletion is thought to be maintained by disequilibrium processes such as photochemistry or mixing from a hotter interior7–9. However, the interiors are largely unconstrained along with the vertical mixing strength and only upper limits on the CH4 depletion have been available. The warm Neptune WASP-107b stands out among exoplanets with an unusually low density, reported low core mass10, and temperatures amenable to CH4, though previous observations have yet to find the molecule2,4. Here we present a JWST-NIRSpec transmission spectrum of WASP-107b that shows features from both SO2 and CH4 along with H2O, CO2, and CO. We detect methane with 4.2σ significance at an abundance of 1.0 ± 0.5 ppm, which is depleted by 3 orders of magnitude relative to equilibrium expectations. Our results are highly constraining for the atmosphere and interior, which indicate the envelope has a super-solar metallicity of 43 ± 8 × solar, a hot interior with an intrinsic temperature of Tint = 460 ± 40 K, and vigorous vertical mixing which depletes CH4 with a diffusion coefficient of Kzz = 1011.6±0.1 cm2 s−1. Photochemistry has a negligible effect on the CH4 abundance but is needed to account for the SO2. We infer a core mass of $${11.5}_{-3.6}^{+3.0}{M}_{\oplus }$$ 11.5 − 3.6 + 3.0 M ⊕ , which is much higher than previous upper limits10, releasing a tension with core-accretion models11.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07395-z

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