Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere

JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w

Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere

JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team

Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called ‘metallicity’)^1,2,3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants^4,5,6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets^7,8,9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO₂, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification^10,11,12. Here we present the detection of CO₂ in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme^13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0–5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO₂ absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative–convective–thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO₂, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	649–652
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	614
Early online date	2 Sept 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w
Publication status	Published - 23 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments:
This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. The results reported herein benefited during the design phase from collaborations and/or information exchange within NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. N.M.B. acknowledges funding from NASA’s Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (NNH19ZDA001N-ICAR) under award number 19-ICAR19_2-0041.

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Cite this

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title = "Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere",

abstract = "Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called {\textquoteleft}metallicity{\textquoteright})1,2,3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants4,5,6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets7,8,9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification10,11,12. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0–5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative–convective–thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.",

author = "{JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team} and Piette, {Anjali A. A.}",

note = "Acknowledgments: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. The results reported herein benefited during the design phase from collaborations and/or information exchange within NASA{\textquoteright}s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network sponsored by NASA{\textquoteright}s Science Mission Directorate. N.M.B. acknowledges funding from NASA{\textquoteright}s Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (NNH19ZDA001N-ICAR) under award number 19-ICAR19_2-0041.",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w",

language = "English",

volume = "614",

pages = "649–652",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

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T1 - Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere

AU - JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team

AU - Piette, Anjali A. A.

N1 - Acknowledgments: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These observations are associated with programme JWST-ERS-01366. Support for programme JWST-ERS-01366 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. The results reported herein benefited during the design phase from collaborations and/or information exchange within NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. N.M.B. acknowledges funding from NASA’s Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (NNH19ZDA001N-ICAR) under award number 19-ICAR19_2-0041.

PY - 2023/2/23

Y1 - 2023/2/23

N2 - Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called ‘metallicity’)1,2,3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants4,5,6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets7,8,9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification10,11,12. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0–5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative–convective–thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.

AB - Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called ‘metallicity’)1,2,3, and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants4,5,6. It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets7,8,9. Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification10,11,12. Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme13,14. The data used in this study span 3.0–5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative–convective–thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w

DO - 10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w

M3 - Article

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 614

SP - 649

EP - 652

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere

Abstract

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