Статья

Enriched volatiles and refractories but deficient titanium on the day-side atmosphere of WASP-121b revealed by JWST/NIRISS

Stefan PelletierObservatoire astronomique de l’Université de GenèveLouis-Philippe CoulombeTrottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, Université de MontréalJared SplinterDepartment of Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill UniversityB. BennekeDepartment of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of CaliforniaRyan J. MacDonaldDepartment of Astronomy, University of MichiganD. LafrenièreTrottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, Université de MontréalNicolas B. CowanDepartment of Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill UniversityRomain AllartTrottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, Université de MontréalE. RauscherDepartment of Astronomy, University of MichiganRobert C. FrazierDepartment of Astronomy, University of MichiganMichael R. MeyerDepartment of Astronomy, University of MichiganLoïc AlbertObservatoire du Mont-Mégantic, Université de MontréalLisa DangDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of WaterlooR. DoyonObservatoire du Mont-Mégantic, Université de MontréalD. EhrenreichObservatoire astronomique de l’Université de GenèveL. FlaggCenter for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State UniversityDoug JohnstoneDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of VictoriaAdam B. LangeveldDepartment of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell UniversityO. LimTrottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Department of Physics, Université de MontréalCaroline PiauletDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of ChicagoMichael RadicaDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of ChicagoJason RoweDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Bishop’s UniversityJake TaylorDepartment of Physics, University of OxfordJ. D. TurnerDepartment of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University

Astronomy and Astrophysicsjournal2025en

ABI

Аннотация

Context . With day-side temperatures elevated enough for all atmospheric constituents to be present in gas form, ultra-hot Jupiters offer a unique opportunity to probe the composition of giant planets. Aims . We aim to infer the composition and thermal structure of the day-side atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b from two NIRISS/SOSS secondary eclipses observed as part of a full phase curve. Methods . We extracted the eclipse spectrum of WASP-121b with two independent data reduction pipelines and analysed it using different atmospheric retrieval prescriptions to explore the effects of thermal dissociation, reflected light, and titanium condensation on the inferred atmospheric properties. Results . We find that the observed day-side spectrum of WASP-121b is best fit by atmosphere models possessing a thermal inversion with temperatures reaching over 3000 K, with spectral contributions from H 2 O, CO, VO, and H − , along with either titanium oxide (TiO) or reflected light. We found the atmosphere of WASP-121b to be metal-enriched (~10× stellar), but comparatively titanium-poor (≲1× stellar), potentially due to partial cold-trapping. The inferred C/O depends on model assumptions, such as whether reflected light is included, ranging from being consistent with stellar, if a geometric albedo of zero is assumed, to being super-stellar for a freely fitted value of Ag = 0.16 −0.02 +0.02 . The volatile-to-refractory ratio was found to be consistent with the stellar value. Conclusions . From the NIRISS eclipse spectrum, we infer that WASP-121b has an atmosphere that is enriched in both volatile and refractory metals, but not in ultra-refractory titanium, suggesting the presence of a night-side cold-trap. Considering H 2 O dissociation is critical in free retrieval analyses, leading to order-of-magnitude differences in retrieved abundances for WASP-121b if neglected. Simple chemical equilibrium retrievals that assume all species are governed by a single metallicity parameter tend to drastically overpredict the TiO abundance, strongly biasing the inferred atmospheric composition.

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Темы

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysical Research

Идентификаторы

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202556985

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