Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b

Diana Powell; Adina D Feinstein; Elspeth K H Lee; Michael Zhang; Shang-Min Tsai; Jake Taylor; James Kirk; Taylor Bell; Joanna K Barstow; Peter Gao; Jacob L Bean; Jasmina Blecic; Katy L Chubb; Ian J M Crossfield; Sean Jordan; Daniel Kitzmann; Sarah E Moran; Giuseppe Morello; Julianne I Moses; Luis Welbanks; Jeehyun Yang; Xi Zhang; Eva-Maria Ahrer; Aaron Bello-Arufe; Jonathan Brande; S L Casewell; Nicolas Crouzet; Patricio E Cubillos; Brice-Olivier Demory; Achrène Dyrek; Laura Flagg; Renyu Hu; Julie Inglis; Kathryn D Jones; Laura Kreidberg; Mercedes López-Morales; Pierre-Olivier Lagage; Erik A Meier Valdés; Yamila Miguel; Vivien Parmentier; Anjali A A Piette; Benjamin V Rackham; Michael Radica; Seth Redfield; Kevin B Stevenson; Hannah R Wakeford; Keshav Aggarwal; Munazza K Alam; Natalie M Batalha; Natasha E Batalha; Björn Benneke; Zach K Berta-Thompson; Ryan P Brady; Claudio Caceres; Aarynn L Carter; Jean-Michel Désert; Joseph Harrington; Nicolas Iro; Michael R Line; Joshua D Lothringer; Ryan J MacDonald; Luigi Mancini; Karan Molaverdikhani; Sagnick Mukherjee; Matthew C Nixon; Apurva V Oza; Enric Palle; Zafar Rustamkulov; David K Sing; Maria E Steinrueck; Olivia Venot; Peter J Wheatley; Sergei N Yurchenko

doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b

Diana Powell^*
, Adina D Feinstein
, Elspeth K H Lee
, Michael Zhang
, Shang-Min Tsai
, Jake Taylor
, James Kirk
, Taylor Bell
, Joanna K Barstow
, Peter Gao
, Jacob L Bean
, Jasmina Blecic
, Katy L Chubb
, Ian J M Crossfield
, Sean Jordan
, Daniel Kitzmann
, Sarah E Moran
, Giuseppe Morello
, Julianne I Moses
, Luis Welbanks

Jeehyun Yang, Xi Zhang, Eva-Maria Ahrer, Aaron Bello-Arufe, Jonathan Brande, S L Casewell, Nicolas Crouzet, Patricio E Cubillos, Brice-Olivier Demory, Achrène Dyrek, Laura Flagg, Renyu Hu, Julie Inglis, Kathryn D Jones, Laura Kreidberg, Mercedes López-Morales, Pierre-Olivier Lagage, Erik A Meier Valdés, Yamila Miguel, Vivien Parmentier, Anjali A A Piette, Benjamin V Rackham, Michael Radica, Seth Redfield, Kevin B Stevenson, Hannah R Wakeford, Keshav Aggarwal, Munazza K Alam, Natalie M Batalha, Natasha E Batalha, Björn Benneke, Zach K Berta-Thompson, Ryan P Brady, Claudio Caceres, Aarynn L Carter, Jean-Michel Désert, Joseph Harrington, Nicolas Iro, Michael R Line, Joshua D Lothringer, Ryan J MacDonald, Luigi Mancini, Karan Molaverdikhani, Sagnick Mukherjee, Matthew C Nixon, Apurva V Oza, Enric Palle, Zafar Rustamkulov, David K Sing, Maria E Steinrueck, Olivia Venot, Peter J Wheatley, Sergei N Yurchenko

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

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

Abstract

The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO₂ under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H₂O and H₂S (1–10 ppm). However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO₂ absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO₂ abundance. Here we report the detection of SO₂ spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS). Our observations suggest an abundance of SO₂ of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO₂, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	979-983
Number of pages	22
Journal	Nature
Volume	626
Issue number	8001
Early online date	17 Jan 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9
Publication status	Published - 29 Feb 2024

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Powell, D. (Creator), Feinstein, A. (Creator), Lee, E. (Creator), Zhang, M. (Creator), Tsai, S.-M. (Creator), Taylor, J. (Creator), Kirk, J. (Creator), Bell, T. (Creator), Barstow, J. (Creator) & Gao, P. (Creator), Zenodo, 30 Oct 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10055845
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Powell, D., Feinstein, A. D., Lee, E. K. H., Zhang, M., Tsai, S.-M., Taylor, J., Kirk, J., Bell, T., Barstow, J. K., Gao, P., Bean, J. L., Blecic, J., Chubb, K. L., Crossfield, I. J. M., Jordan, S., Kitzmann, D., Moran, S. E., Morello, G., Moses, J. I., ... Yurchenko, S. N. (2024). Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b. Nature, 626(8001), 979-983. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

@article{18f3fbd8f3a340d08b3fef30a6a75247,

title = "Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b",

abstract = "The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm). However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS). Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.",

author = "Diana Powell and Feinstein, \{Adina D\} and Lee, \{Elspeth K H\} and Michael Zhang and Shang-Min Tsai and Jake Taylor and James Kirk and Taylor Bell and Barstow, \{Joanna K\} and Peter Gao and Bean, \{Jacob L\} and Jasmina Blecic and Chubb, \{Katy L\} and Crossfield, \{Ian J M\} and Sean Jordan and Daniel Kitzmann and Moran, \{Sarah E\} and Giuseppe Morello and Moses, \{Julianne I\} and Luis Welbanks and Jeehyun Yang and Xi Zhang and Eva-Maria Ahrer and Aaron Bello-Arufe and Jonathan Brande and Casewell, \{S L\} and Nicolas Crouzet and Cubillos, \{Patricio E\} and Brice-Olivier Demory and Achr{\`e}ne Dyrek and Laura Flagg and Renyu Hu and Julie Inglis and Jones, \{Kathryn D\} and Laura Kreidberg and Mercedes L{\'o}pez-Morales and Pierre-Olivier Lagage and \{Meier Vald{\'e}s\}, \{Erik A\} and Yamila Miguel and Vivien Parmentier and Piette, \{Anjali A A\} and Rackham, \{Benjamin V\} and Michael Radica and Seth Redfield and Stevenson, \{Kevin B\} and Wakeford, \{Hannah R\} and Keshav Aggarwal and Alam, \{Munazza K\} and Batalha, \{Natalie M\} and Batalha, \{Natasha E\} and Bj{\"o}rn Benneke and Berta-Thompson, \{Zach K\} and Brady, \{Ryan P\} and Claudio Caceres and Carter, \{Aarynn L\} and Jean-Michel D{\'e}sert and Joseph Harrington and Nicolas Iro and Line, \{Michael R\} and Lothringer, \{Joshua D\} and MacDonald, \{Ryan J\} and Luigi Mancini and Karan Molaverdikhani and Sagnick Mukherjee and Nixon, \{Matthew C\} and Oza, \{Apurva V\} and Enric Palle and Zafar Rustamkulov and Sing, \{David K\} and Steinrueck, \{Maria E\} and Olivia Venot and Wheatley, \{Peter J\} and Yurchenko, \{Sergei N\}",

note = "Funding: T.B. acknowledges funding support from the NASA Next Generation Space Telescope Flight Investigations programme (now JWST) through WBS 411672.07.05.05.03.02. J.K.B. is supported by a UKRI STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (grant ST/T004479/1). J.T. is supported by the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Schmidt Futures programme. J.Bl. acknowledges the support received in part from the NYUAD IT High Performance Computing resources, services and staff expertise. G.M. has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie grant agreement no. 895525 and from the Ariel Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). B.-O.D. acknowledges support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number MB22.00046. E.A.M.V. acknowledges support from the Centre for Space and Habitability (CSH) and the NCCR PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grants 51NF40\_182901 and 51NF40\_205606. Y.M. has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101088557, N-GINE). M.Z. is a 51 Pegasi b fellow. L.W. and R.J.M. are NHFP Sagan fellows.",

year = "2024",

month = feb,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9",

language = "English",

volume = "626",

pages = "979--983",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "8001",

}

Powell, D, Feinstein, AD, Lee, EKH, Zhang, M, Tsai, S-M, Taylor, J, Kirk, J, Bell, T, Barstow, JK, Gao, P, Bean, JL, Blecic, J, Chubb, KL, Crossfield, IJM, Jordan, S, Kitzmann, D, Moran, SE, Morello, G, Moses, JI, Welbanks, L, Yang, J, Zhang, X, Ahrer, E-M, Bello-Arufe, A, Brande, J, Casewell, SL, Crouzet, N, Cubillos, PE, Demory, B-O, Dyrek, A, Flagg, L, Hu, R, Inglis, J, Jones, KD, Kreidberg, L, López-Morales, M, Lagage, P-O, Meier Valdés, EA, Miguel, Y, Parmentier, V, Piette, AAA, Rackham, BV, Radica, M, Redfield, S, Stevenson, KB, Wakeford, HR, Aggarwal, K, Alam, MK, Batalha, NM, Batalha, NE, Benneke, B, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Brady, RP, Caceres, C, Carter, AL, Désert, J-M, Harrington, J, Iro, N, Line, MR, Lothringer, JD, MacDonald, RJ, Mancini, L, Molaverdikhani, K, Mukherjee, S, Nixon, MC, Oza, AV, Palle, E, Rustamkulov, Z, Sing, DK, Steinrueck, ME, Venot, O, Wheatley, PJ & Yurchenko, SN 2024, 'Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b', Nature, vol. 626, no. 8001, pp. 979-983. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b

AU - Powell, Diana

AU - Feinstein, Adina D

AU - Lee, Elspeth K H

AU - Zhang, Michael

AU - Tsai, Shang-Min

AU - Taylor, Jake

AU - Kirk, James

AU - Bell, Taylor

AU - Barstow, Joanna K

AU - Gao, Peter

AU - Bean, Jacob L

AU - Blecic, Jasmina

AU - Chubb, Katy L

AU - Crossfield, Ian J M

AU - Jordan, Sean

AU - Kitzmann, Daniel

AU - Moran, Sarah E

AU - Morello, Giuseppe

AU - Moses, Julianne I

AU - Welbanks, Luis

AU - Yang, Jeehyun

AU - Zhang, Xi

AU - Ahrer, Eva-Maria

AU - Bello-Arufe, Aaron

AU - Brande, Jonathan

AU - Casewell, S L

AU - Crouzet, Nicolas

AU - Cubillos, Patricio E

AU - Demory, Brice-Olivier

AU - Dyrek, Achrène

AU - Flagg, Laura

AU - Hu, Renyu

AU - Inglis, Julie

AU - Jones, Kathryn D

AU - Kreidberg, Laura

AU - López-Morales, Mercedes

AU - Lagage, Pierre-Olivier

AU - Meier Valdés, Erik A

AU - Miguel, Yamila

AU - Parmentier, Vivien

AU - Piette, Anjali A A

AU - Rackham, Benjamin V

AU - Radica, Michael

AU - Redfield, Seth

AU - Stevenson, Kevin B

AU - Wakeford, Hannah R

AU - Aggarwal, Keshav

AU - Alam, Munazza K

AU - Batalha, Natalie M

AU - Batalha, Natasha E

AU - Benneke, Björn

AU - Berta-Thompson, Zach K

AU - Brady, Ryan P

AU - Caceres, Claudio

AU - Carter, Aarynn L

AU - Désert, Jean-Michel

AU - Harrington, Joseph

AU - Iro, Nicolas

AU - Line, Michael R

AU - Lothringer, Joshua D

AU - MacDonald, Ryan J

AU - Mancini, Luigi

AU - Molaverdikhani, Karan

AU - Mukherjee, Sagnick

AU - Nixon, Matthew C

AU - Oza, Apurva V

AU - Palle, Enric

AU - Rustamkulov, Zafar

AU - Sing, David K

AU - Steinrueck, Maria E

AU - Venot, Olivia

AU - Wheatley, Peter J

AU - Yurchenko, Sergei N

N1 - Funding: T.B. acknowledges funding support from the NASA Next Generation Space Telescope Flight Investigations programme (now JWST) through WBS 411672.07.05.05.03.02. J.K.B. is supported by a UKRI STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (grant ST/T004479/1). J.T. is supported by the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Schmidt Futures programme. J.Bl. acknowledges the support received in part from the NYUAD IT High Performance Computing resources, services and staff expertise. G.M. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 895525 and from the Ariel Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). B.-O.D. acknowledges support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number MB22.00046. E.A.M.V. acknowledges support from the Centre for Space and Habitability (CSH) and the NCCR PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grants 51NF40_182901 and 51NF40_205606. Y.M. has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101088557, N-GINE). M.Z. is a 51 Pegasi b fellow. L.W. and R.J.M. are NHFP Sagan fellows.

PY - 2024/2/29

Y1 - 2024/2/29

N2 - The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm). However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS). Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.

AB - The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm). However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS). Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

DO - 10.1038/s41586-024-07040-9

M3 - Article

C2 - 38232945

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 626

SP - 979

EP - 983

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 8001

ER -

Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b

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