Hydrogen sulfide and metal-enriched atmosphere for a Jupiter-mass exoplanet

Guangwei Fu (), Luis Welbanks, Drake Deming, Julie Inglis, Michael Zhang, Joshua Lothringer, Jegug Ih, Julianne I. Moses, Everett Schlawin, Heather A. Knutson, Gregory Henry, Thomas Greene, David K. Sing, Arjun B. Savel, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Dana R. Louie, Michael Line and Matt Nixon
Additional contact information
Guangwei Fu: Johns Hopkins University
Luis Welbanks: Arizona State University
Drake Deming: University of Maryland
Julie Inglis: California Institute of Technology
Michael Zhang: University of Chicago
Joshua Lothringer: Utah Valley University
Jegug Ih: University of Maryland
Julianne I. Moses: Space Science Institute
Everett Schlawin: University of Arizona
Heather A. Knutson: California Institute of Technology
Gregory Henry: Tennessee State University
Thomas Greene: NASA Ames Research Center
David K. Sing: Johns Hopkins University
Arjun B. Savel: University of Maryland
Eliza M.-R. Kempton: University of Maryland
Dana R. Louie: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Michael Line: Arizona State University
Matt Nixon: University of Maryland

Nature, 2024, vol. 632, issue 8026, 752-756

Abstract: Abstract As the closest transiting hot Jupiter to Earth, HD 189733b has been the benchmark planet for atmospheric characterization1–3. It has also been the anchor point for much of our theoretical understanding of exoplanet atmospheres from composition4, chemistry5,6, aerosols7 to atmospheric dynamics8, escape9 and modelling techniques10,11. Previous studies of HD 189733b have detected carbon and oxygen-bearing molecules H2O and CO (refs. 12,13) in the atmosphere. The presence of CO2 and CH4 has been claimed14,15 but later disputed12,16,17. The inferred metallicity based on these measurements, a key parameter in tracing planet formation locations18, varies from depletion19,20 to enhancement21,22, hindered by limited wavelength coverage and precision of the observations. Here we report detections of H2O (13.4σ), CO2 (11.2σ), CO (5σ) and H2S (4.5σ) in the transmission spectrum (2.4–5.0 μm) of HD 189733b. With an equilibrium temperature of about 1,200 K, H2O, CO and H2S are the main reservoirs for oxygen, carbon and sulfur. Based on the measured abundances of these three main volatile elements, we infer an atmospheric metallicity of three to five times stellar. The upper limit on the methane abundance at 5σ is 0.1 ppm, which indicates a low carbon-to-oxygen ratio (

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07760-y

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