Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

S.-M. Tsai; E.K.H. Lee; D. Powell; P. Gao; X. Zhang; J. Moses; E. Hébrard; O. Venot; V. Parmentier; S. Jordan; R. Hu; M.K. Alam; L. Alderson; N.M. Batalha; J.L. Bean; B. Benneke; C.J. Bierson; R.P. Brady; L. Carone; A.L. Carter; K.L. Chubb; J. Inglis; J. Leconte; M. Line; M. López-Morales; Y. Miguel; K. Molaverdikhani; Z. Rustamkulov; D.K. Sing; K.B. Stevenson; H.R. Wakeford; J. Yang; K. Aggarwal; R. Baeyens; S. Barat; M. de Val-Borro; T. Daylan; J.J. Fortney; K. France; J.M. Goyal; D. Grant; J. Kirk; L. Kreidberg; A. Louca; S.E. Moran; S. Mukherjee; E. Nasedkin; K. Ohno; B.V. Rackham; S. Redfield; J. Taylor; P. Tremblin; C. Visscher; N.L. Wallack; L. Welbanks; A. Youngblood; E.-M. Ahrer; N.E. Batalha; P. Behr; Z.K. Berta-Thompson; J. Blecic; S.L. Casewell; I.J.M. Crossfield; N. Crouzet; P.E. Cubillos; L. Decin; J.-M. Désert; A.D. Feinstein; N.P. Gibson; J. Harrington; K. Heng; T. Henning; E.M.-R. Kempton; J. Krick; P.-O. Lagage; M. Lendl; J.D. Lothringer; M. Mansfield; N.J. Mayne; T. Mikal-Evans; E. Palle; E. Schlawin; O. Shorttle; P.J. Wheatley; S.N. Yurchenko

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

Photochemically produced SO₂ in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

S.-M. Tsai^*, E.K.H. Lee, D. Powell, P. Gao, X. Zhang, J. Moses, E. Hébrard, O. Venot, V. Parmentier, S. Jordan, R. Hu, M.K. Alam, L. Alderson, N.M. Batalha, J.L. Bean, B. Benneke, C.J. Bierson, R.P. Brady, L. Carone, A.L. CarterK.L. Chubb, J. Inglis, J. Leconte, M. Line, M. López-Morales, Y. Miguel, K. Molaverdikhani, Z. Rustamkulov, D.K. Sing, K.B. Stevenson, H.R. Wakeford, J. Yang, K. Aggarwal, R. Baeyens, S. Barat, M. de Val-Borro, T. Daylan, J.J. Fortney, K. France, J.M. Goyal, D. Grant, J. Kirk, L. Kreidberg, A. Louca, S.E. Moran, S. Mukherjee, E. Nasedkin, K. Ohno, B.V. Rackham, S. Redfield, J. Taylor, P. Tremblin, C. Visscher, N.L. Wallack, L. Welbanks, A. Youngblood, E.-M. Ahrer, N.E. Batalha, P. Behr, Z.K. Berta-Thompson, J. Blecic, S.L. Casewell, I.J.M. Crossfield, N. Crouzet, P.E. Cubillos, L. Decin, J.-M. Désert, A.D. Feinstein, N.P. Gibson, J. Harrington, K. Heng, T. Henning, E.M.-R. Kempton, J. Krick, P.-O. Lagage, M. Lendl, J.D. Lothringer, M. Mansfield, N.J. Mayne, T. Mikal-Evans, E. Palle, E. Schlawin, O. Shorttle, P.J. Wheatley, S.N. Yurchenko

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability¹. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program^2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO₂) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 M_J) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. ⁴). The most plausible way of generating SO₂ in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes^5,6. Here we show that the SO₂ distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations⁷ with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)⁸ and G395H (4.5σ)⁹. SO₂ is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO₂ feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO₂ also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	483-487
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	617
Early online date	26 Apr 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2
Publication status	Published - 18 May 2023

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Direct evidence of photochemistry in an exoplanet atmosphere
Tsai, S.-M., Lee, E. K. H., Powell, D., Gao, P., Zhang, X., Moses, J., Hébrard, E., Venot, O., Parmentier, V., Jordan, S., Hu, R., Alam, M. K., Alderson, L., Batalha, N. M., Bean, J. L., Benneke, B., Bierson, C. J., Brady, R. P., Carone, L. & Carter, A. L. & 65 others, Chubb, K. L., Inglis, J., Leconte, J., Lopez-Morales, M., Miguel, Y., Molaverdikhani, K., Rustamkulov, Z., Sing, D. K., Stevenson, K. B., Wakeford, H. R., Yang, J., Aggarwal, K., Baeyens, R., Barat, S., Borro, M. D. V., Daylan, T., Fortney, J. J., France, K., Goyal, J. M., Grant, D., Kirk, J., Kreidberg, L., Louca, A., Moran, S. E., Mukherjee, S., Nasedkin, E., Ohno, K., Rackham, B. V., Redfield, S., Taylor, J., Tremblin, P., Visscher, C., Wallack, N. L., Welbanks, L., Youngblood, A., Ahrer, E.-M., Batalha, N. E., Behr, P., Berta-Thompson, Z. K., Blecic, J., Casewell, S. L., Crossfield, I. J. M., Crouzet, N., Cubillos, P. E., Decin, L., Désert, J.-M., Feinstein, A. D., Gibson, N. P., Harrington, J., Heng, K., Henning, T., Kempton, E. M.-R., Krick, J., Lagage, P.-O., Lendl, M., Line, M., Lothringer, J. D., Mansfield, M., Mayne, N. J., Mikal-Evans, T., Palle, E., Schlawin, E., Shorttle, O., Wheatley, P. J. & Yurchenko, S. N., 18 Nov 2022, arXiv, 39 p.
Research output: Working paper › Preprint

Cite this

Tsai, S.-M., Lee, E. K. H., Powell, D., Gao, P., Zhang, X., Moses, J., Hébrard, E., Venot, O., Parmentier, V., Jordan, S., Hu, R., Alam, M. K., Alderson, L., Batalha, N. M., Bean, J. L., Benneke, B., Bierson, C. J., Brady, R. P., Carone, L., ... Yurchenko, S. N. (2023). Photochemically produced SO₂ in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. Nature, 617, 483-487. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

@article{f218f6b3d68e48d9a1d5d4f4f11e70e2,

title = "Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b",

abstract = "Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.",

author = "S.-M. Tsai and E.K.H. Lee and D. Powell and P. Gao and X. Zhang and J. Moses and E. H{\'e}brard and O. Venot and V. Parmentier and S. Jordan and R. Hu and M.K. Alam and L. Alderson and N.M. Batalha and J.L. Bean and B. Benneke and C.J. Bierson and R.P. Brady and L. Carone and A.L. Carter and K.L. Chubb and J. Inglis and J. Leconte and M. Line and M. L{\'o}pez-Morales and Y. Miguel and K. Molaverdikhani and Z. Rustamkulov and D.K. Sing and K.B. Stevenson and H.R. Wakeford and J. Yang and K. Aggarwal and R. Baeyens and S. Barat and {de Val-Borro}, M. and T. Daylan and J.J. Fortney and K. France and J.M. Goyal and D. Grant and J. Kirk and L. Kreidberg and A. Louca and S.E. Moran and S. Mukherjee and E. Nasedkin and K. Ohno and B.V. Rackham and S. Redfield and J. Taylor and P. Tremblin and C. Visscher and N.L. Wallack and L. Welbanks and A. Youngblood and E.-M. Ahrer and N.E. Batalha and P. Behr and Z.K. Berta-Thompson and J. Blecic and S.L. Casewell and I.J.M. Crossfield and N. Crouzet and P.E. Cubillos and L. Decin and J.-M. D{\'e}sert and A.D. Feinstein and N.P. Gibson and J. Harrington and K. Heng and T. Henning and E.M.-R. Kempton and J. Krick and P.-O. Lagage and M. Lendl and J.D. Lothringer and M. Mansfield and N.J. Mayne and T. Mikal-Evans and E. Palle and E. Schlawin and O. Shorttle and P.J. Wheatley and S.N. Yurchenko",

note = "Funding: S.-M.T. is supported by the European Research Council advanced grant EXOCONDENSE (no. 740963; principal investigator: R. T. Pierrehumbert). E.K.H.L. is supported by the SNSF Ambizione Fellowship grant (no. 193448). X.Z. is supported by NASA Exoplanet Research grant 80NSSC22K0236. O.V. acknowledges funding from the ANR project {\textquoteleft}EXACT{\textquoteright} (ANR-21-CE49-0008-01), from the Centre National d{\textquoteright}{\'E}tudes Spatiales (CNES) and from the CNRS/INSU Programme National de Plan{\'e}tologie (PNP). L.D. acknowledges support from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2109 under grant no. 860470 (CHAMELEON) and the KU Leuven IDN/19/028 grant Escher. This work benefited from the 2022 Exoplanet Summer Program at the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a programme financed by the Heising-Simons Foundation. T.D. is an LSSTC Catalyst Fellow. J.K. is an Imperial College Research Fellow. B.V.R. is a 51 Pegasi b Fellow. L.W. is an NHFP Sagan Fellow. A.D.F. is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.",

year = "2023",

month = may,

day = "18",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2",

language = "English",

volume = "617",

pages = "483--487",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature publishing group",

}

Tsai, S-M, Lee, EKH, Powell, D, Gao, P, Zhang, X, Moses, J, Hébrard, E, Venot, O, Parmentier, V, Jordan, S, Hu, R, Alam, MK, Alderson, L, Batalha, NM, Bean, JL, Benneke, B, Bierson, CJ, Brady, RP, Carone, L, Carter, AL, Chubb, KL, Inglis, J, Leconte, J, Line, M, López-Morales, M, Miguel, Y, Molaverdikhani, K, Rustamkulov, Z, Sing, DK, Stevenson, KB, Wakeford, HR, Yang, J, Aggarwal, K, Baeyens, R, Barat, S, de Val-Borro, M, Daylan, T, Fortney, JJ, France, K, Goyal, JM, Grant, D, Kirk, J, Kreidberg, L, Louca, A, Moran, SE, Mukherjee, S, Nasedkin, E, Ohno, K, Rackham, BV, Redfield, S, Taylor, J, Tremblin, P, Visscher, C, Wallack, NL, Welbanks, L, Youngblood, A, Ahrer, E-M, Batalha, NE, Behr, P, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Blecic, J, Casewell, SL, Crossfield, IJM, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Decin, L, Désert, J-M, Feinstein, AD, Gibson, NP, Harrington, J, Heng, K, Henning, T, Kempton, EM-R, Krick, J, Lagage, P-O, Lendl, M, Lothringer, JD, Mansfield, M, Mayne, NJ, Mikal-Evans, T, Palle, E, Schlawin, E, Shorttle, O, Wheatley, PJ & Yurchenko, SN 2023, 'Photochemically produced SO₂ in the atmosphere of WASP-39b', Nature, vol. 617, pp. 483-487. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

AU - Tsai, S.-M.

AU - Lee, E.K.H.

AU - Powell, D.

AU - Gao, P.

AU - Zhang, X.

AU - Moses, J.

AU - Hébrard, E.

AU - Venot, O.

AU - Parmentier, V.

AU - Jordan, S.

AU - Hu, R.

AU - Alam, M.K.

AU - Alderson, L.

AU - Batalha, N.M.

AU - Bean, J.L.

AU - Benneke, B.

AU - Bierson, C.J.

AU - Brady, R.P.

AU - Carone, L.

AU - Carter, A.L.

AU - Chubb, K.L.

AU - Inglis, J.

AU - Leconte, J.

AU - Line, M.

AU - López-Morales, M.

AU - Miguel, Y.

AU - Molaverdikhani, K.

AU - Rustamkulov, Z.

AU - Sing, D.K.

AU - Stevenson, K.B.

AU - Wakeford, H.R.

AU - Yang, J.

AU - Aggarwal, K.

AU - Baeyens, R.

AU - Barat, S.

AU - de Val-Borro, M.

AU - Daylan, T.

AU - Fortney, J.J.

AU - France, K.

AU - Goyal, J.M.

AU - Grant, D.

AU - Kirk, J.

AU - Kreidberg, L.

AU - Louca, A.

AU - Moran, S.E.

AU - Mukherjee, S.

AU - Nasedkin, E.

AU - Ohno, K.

AU - Rackham, B.V.

AU - Redfield, S.

AU - Taylor, J.

AU - Tremblin, P.

AU - Visscher, C.

AU - Wallack, N.L.

AU - Welbanks, L.

AU - Youngblood, A.

AU - Ahrer, E.-M.

AU - Batalha, N.E.

AU - Behr, P.

AU - Berta-Thompson, Z.K.

AU - Blecic, J.

AU - Casewell, S.L.

AU - Crossfield, I.J.M.

AU - Crouzet, N.

AU - Cubillos, P.E.

AU - Decin, L.

AU - Désert, J.-M.

AU - Feinstein, A.D.

AU - Gibson, N.P.

AU - Harrington, J.

AU - Heng, K.

AU - Henning, T.

AU - Kempton, E.M.-R.

AU - Krick, J.

AU - Lagage, P.-O.

AU - Lendl, M.

AU - Lothringer, J.D.

AU - Mansfield, M.

AU - Mayne, N.J.

AU - Mikal-Evans, T.

AU - Palle, E.

AU - Schlawin, E.

AU - Shorttle, O.

AU - Wheatley, P.J.

AU - Yurchenko, S.N.

N1 - Funding: S.-M.T. is supported by the European Research Council advanced grant EXOCONDENSE (no. 740963; principal investigator: R. T. Pierrehumbert). E.K.H.L. is supported by the SNSF Ambizione Fellowship grant (no. 193448). X.Z. is supported by NASA Exoplanet Research grant 80NSSC22K0236. O.V. acknowledges funding from the ANR project ‘EXACT’ (ANR-21-CE49-0008-01), from the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and from the CNRS/INSU Programme National de Planétologie (PNP). L.D. acknowledges support from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2109 under grant no. 860470 (CHAMELEON) and the KU Leuven IDN/19/028 grant Escher. This work benefited from the 2022 Exoplanet Summer Program at the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a programme financed by the Heising-Simons Foundation. T.D. is an LSSTC Catalyst Fellow. J.K. is an Imperial College Research Fellow. B.V.R. is a 51 Pegasi b Fellow. L.W. is an NHFP Sagan Fellow. A.D.F. is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.

PY - 2023/5/18

Y1 - 2023/5/18

N2 - Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.

AB - Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

DO - 10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

M3 - Article

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 617

SP - 483

EP - 487

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

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Direct evidence of photochemistry in an exoplanet atmosphere

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Photochemically produced SO₂ in the atmosphere of WASP-39b