Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Jane Rigby
Marshall Perrin
Michael McElwain
Randy Kimble
Scott Friedman
Matt Lallo
René Doyon
Lee Feinberg
Pierre Ferruit
Alistair Glasse
Marcia Rieke
George Rieke
Gillian Wright
Chris Willott
Knicole Colon
Stefanie Milam
Susan Neff
Christopher Stark
Jeff Valenti
Jim Abell
Abstract： This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Marshall C. Johnson
Ji Wang
Anusha Pai Asnodkar
Aldo S. Bonomo
B. Scott Gaudi
Thomas Henning
Ilya Ilyin
Engin Keles
Luca Malavolta
Matthias Mallonn
Karan Molaverdikhani
Valerio Nascimbeni
Jennifer Patience
Katja Poppenhaeger
Gaetano Scandariato
Everett Schlawin
Evgenya Shkolnik
Daniela Sicilia
Alessandro Sozzetti
Klaus G. Strassmeier
Abstract： Recent observations have shown that the atmospheres of ultra hot Jupiters (UHJs) commonly possess temperature inversions, where the temperature increases with increasing altitude. Nonetheless, which opacity sources are responsible for the presence of these inversions remains largely observationally unconstrained. We used LBT/PEPSI to observe the atmosphere of the UHJ KELT-20 b in both transmission and emission in order to search for molecular agents which could be responsible for the temperature inversion. We validate our methodology by confirming previous detections of Fe I in emission at $16.9\sigma$. Our search for the inversion agents TiO, VO, FeH, and CaH results in non-detections. Using injection-recovery testing we set $4\sigma$ upper limits upon the volume mixing ratios for these constituents as low as $\sim1\times10^{-9}$ for TiO. For TiO, VO, and CaH, our limits are much lower than expectations from an equilibrium chemical model, while we cannot set constraining limits on FeH with our data. We thus rule out TiO and CaH as the source of the temperature inversion in KELT-20 b, and VO only if the line lists are sufficiently accurate.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Lili Alderson
Hannah R. Wakeford
Munazza K. Alam
Natasha E. Batalha
Joshua D. Lothringer
Jea Adams Redai
Saugata Barat
Jonathan Brande
Mario Damiano
Tansu Daylan
Néstor Espinoza
Laura Flagg
Jayesh M. Goyal
David Grant
Renyu Hu
Julie Inglis
Elspeth K. H. Lee
Thomas Mikal-Evans
Lakeisha Ramos-Rosado
Pierre-Alexis Roy
Abstract： Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. Access to an exoplanet's chemical inventory requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based and high-resolution ground-based facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R$\sim$600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3-5 $\mu$m covering multiple absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, obtained with JWST NIRSpec G395H. Our observations achieve 1.46x photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO$_2$ (28.5$\sigma$) and H$_2$O (21.5$\sigma$), and identify SO$_2$ as the source of absorption at 4.1 $\mu$m (4.8$\sigma$). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10x solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO$_2$, underscore the importance of characterising the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres, and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time series observations over this critical wavelength range.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
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
Abstract： Transmission spectroscopy provides insight into the atmospheric properties and consequently the formation history, physics, and chemistry of transiting exoplanets. However, obtaining precise inferences of atmospheric properties from transmission spectra requires simultaneously measuring the strength and shape of multiple spectral absorption features from a wide range of chemical species. This has been challenging given the precision and wavelength coverage of previous observatories. Here, we present the transmission spectrum of the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b obtained using the SOSS mode of the NIRISS instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans $0.6 - 2.8 \mu$m in wavelength and reveals multiple water absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet, as well as 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, favoring a heavy element enhancement ("metallicity") of $\sim 10 - 30 \times$ 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 best explained by wavelength-dependent, non-gray clouds with inhomogeneous coverage of the planet's terminator.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Eva-Maria Ahrer
Kevin B. Stevenson
Megan Mansfield
Sarah E. Moran
Jonathan Brande
Giuseppe Morello
Catriona A. Murray
Nikolay K. Nikolov
Dominique J. M. Petit dit de la Roche
Everett Schlawin
Peter J. Wheatley
Sebastian Zieba
Natasha E. Batalha
Mario Damiano
Jayesh M Goyal
Monika Lendl
Joshua D. Lothringer
Sagnick Mukherjee
Kazumasa Ohno
Natalie M. Batalha
Abstract： Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories. Transmission spectroscopy provides the necessary means by constraining the abundances of oxygen- and carbon-bearing species; however, this requires broad wavelength coverage, moderate spectral resolution, and high precision that, together, are not achievable with previous observatories. Now that JWST has commenced science operations, we are able to observe exoplanets at previously uncharted wavelengths and spectral resolutions. Here we report time-series observations of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b using JWST's Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). The long-wavelength spectroscopic and short-wavelength photometric light curves span 2.0 - 4.0 $\mu$m, exhibit minimal systematics, and reveal well-defined molecular absorption features in the planet's spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous H$_2$O in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of CH$_4$. The otherwise prominent CO$_2$ feature at 2.8 $\mu$m is largely masked by H$_2$O. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1-100$\times$ solar (i.e., an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a sub-stellar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Shang-Min Tsai
Elspeth K. H. Lee
Diana Powell
Peter Gao
Xi Zhang
Julianne Moses
Eric Hébrard
Olivia Venot
Vivien Parmentier
Sean Jordan
Renyu Hu
Munazza K. Alam
Lili Alderson
Natalie M. Batalha
Jacob L. Bean
Björn Benneke
Carver J. Bierson
Ryan P. Brady
Ludmila Carone
Aarynn L. Carter
Abstract： Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that is integral to habitability, atmospheric composition and stability, and aerosol formation. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres to date. Here we show that photochemically produced sulphur dioxide (SO$_2$) is present in the atmosphere of the hot, giant exoplanet WASP-39b, as constrained by data from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Early Release Science Program and informed by a suite of photochemical models. We find that SO$_2$ is produced by successive oxidation of sulphur radicals freed when hydrogen sulphide (H$_2$S) is destroyed. The SO$_2$ distribution computed by the photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05 $\mu$m spectral feature seen in JWST transmission spectra [Rustamkulov et al.(submitted), Alderson et al.(submitted)] and leads to observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the current observations. The sensitivity of the SO$_2$ feature to the enrichment of heavy elements in the atmosphere ("metallicity") suggests that it can be used as a powerful tracer of atmospheric properties, with our results implying a metallicity of $\sim$10$\times$ solar for WASP-39b. Through providing improved constraints on bulk metallicity and sulphur abundance, the detection of SO$_2$ opens a new avenue for the investigation of giant-planet formation. Our work demonstrates that sulphur photochemistry may be readily observable for exoplanets with super-solar metallicity and equilibrium temperatures $\gtrsim$750 K. The confirmation of photochemistry through the agreement between theoretical predictions and observational data is pivotal for further atmospheric characterisation studies.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19
Fengwu Sun
Eiichi Egami
Nor Pirzkal
Marcia Rieke
Stefi Baum
Martha Boyer
Kristan Boyett
Andrew J. Bunker
Alex J. Cameron
Mirko Curti
Daniel J. Eisenstein
Mario Gennaro
Thomas P. Greene
Daniel Jaffe
Doug Kelly
Anton M. Koekemoer
Nimisha Kumari
Roberto Maiolino
Michael Maseda
Michele Perna
Abstract： We present a sample of four emission-line galaxies at $z=6.11-6.35$ that were serendipitously discovered using the commissioning data for the JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS) mode. One of them (at $z=6.11$) has been reported previously while the others are new discoveries. These sources are selected by the secure detections of both [O III] $\lambda$5007 and H$\alpha$ lines with other fainter lines tentatively detected in some cases (e.g., [O II] $\lambda$3727, [O III] $\lambda$4959 and [N II] $\lambda$6583). In the [O III]/H$\beta$ - [N II]/H$\alpha$ Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich diagram, these galaxies occupy the same parameter space as that of $z\sim2$ star-forming galaxies, indicating that they have been enriched rapidly to sub-solar metallicities ($\sim$0.6 $Z_{\odot}$), similar to galaxies with comparable stellar masses at much lower redshifts. The detection of strong H$\alpha$ lines suggests a higher ionizing photon production efficiency within galaxies in the early Universe. We find brightening of the [O III] $\lambda$5007 line luminosity function (LF) from $z=3$ to 6, and no or weak redshift evolution of the H$\alpha$ line LF from $z=2$ to 6. Both LFs are under-predicted at $z\sim6$ by a factor of $\sim$10 in certain cosmological simulations. This further indicates a global Ly$\alpha$ photon escape fraction of 5-7% at $z\sim6$, much lower than previous estimates through the comparison of the UV-derived star-formation rate density and Ly$\alpha$ luminosity density. Our sample recovers $88^{+164}_{-57}$% of $z=6.0-6.6$ galaxies in the survey volume with stellar masses greater than $5\times10^8$ $M_{\odot}$, suggesting the ubiquity of strong H$\alpha$ and [O III] line emitters in the Epoch of Reionization, which will be further uncovered in the era of JWST.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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