Photochemical hazes have frequently been used to interpret exoplanet transmission spectra that show an upward slope toward shorter wavelengths and weak molecular features. While previous studies have ...only considered spherical haze particles, photochemical hazes composed of hydrocarbon aggregate particles are common throughout the solar system. We use an aerosol microphysics model to investigate the effect of aggregate photochemical haze particles on the transmission spectra of warm exoplanets. We find that the wavelength dependence of the optical depth of aggregate particle hazes is flatter than for spheres because aggregates grow to larger radii. Consequently, while spherical haze opacity displays a scattering slope toward shorter wavelengths, aggregate haze opacity can be gray in the optical and near-infrared, similar to those assumed for condensate cloud decks. We further find that haze opacity increases with increasing production rate, decreasing eddy diffusivity, and increasing monomer size, although the magnitude of the latter effect is dependent on production rate and the atmospheric pressure levels probed. We generate synthetic exoplanet transmission spectra to investigate the effect of these hazes on spectral features. For high haze opacity cases, aggregate hazes lead to flat, nearly featureless spectra, while spherical hazes produce sloped spectra with clear spectral features at long wavelengths. Finally, we generate synthetic transmission spectra of GJ 1214b for aggregate and spherical hazes and compare them to space-based observations. We find that aggregate hazes can reproduce the data significantly better than spherical hazes, assuming a production rate that is limited by delivery of methane to the upper atmosphere.
Nine transiting Earth-sized planets have recently been discovered around nearby late-M dwarfs, including the TRAPPIST-1 planets and two planets discovered by the MEarth survey, GJ 1132b and LHS ...1140b. These planets are the smallest known planets that may have atmospheres amenable to detection with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We present model thermal emission and transmission spectra for each planet, varying composition and surface pressure of the atmosphere. We base elemental compositions on those of Earth, Titan, and Venus and calculate the molecular compositions assuming chemical equilibrium, which can strongly depend on temperature. Both thermal emission and transmission spectra are sensitive to the atmospheric composition; thermal emission spectra are sensitive to surface pressure and temperature. We predict the observability of each planet's atmosphere with JWST. GJ 1132b and TRAPPIST-1b are excellent targets for emission spectroscopy with JWST/MIRI, requiring fewer than 10 eclipse observations. Emission photometry for TRAPPIST-1c requires 5-15 eclipses; LHS 1140b and TRAPPIST-1d, TRAPPIST-1e, and TRAPPIST-1f, which could possibly have surface liquid water, may be accessible with photometry. Seven of the nine planets are strong candidates for transmission spectroscopy measurements with JWST, although the number of transits required depends strongly on the planets' actual masses. Using the measured masses, fewer than 20 transits are required for a 5 detection of spectral features for GJ 1132b and six of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Dedicated campaigns to measure the atmospheres of these nine planets will allow us, for the first time, to probe formation and evolution processes of terrestrial planetary atmospheres beyond our solar system.
Abstract
Most brown dwarfs have atmospheres with temperatures cold enough to form clouds. A variety of materials likely condense, including refractory metal oxides and silicates; the precise ...compositions and crystal structures of predicted cloud particles depend on the modeling framework used and have not yet been empirically constrained. Spitzer has shown tentative evidence of the silicate feature in L dwarf spectra and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can measure these features in many L dwarfs. Here, we present new models to predict the signatures of the strongest cloud absorption features. We investigate different cloud mineral species and determine how particle size, mineralogy, and crystalline structure change spectral features. We find that silicate and refractory clouds have a strong cloud absorption feature for small particle sizes (≤1
μ
m). Model spectra are compared to five brown dwarfs that show evidence of the silicate feature; models that include small particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere produce a broad cloud mineral feature, and that better match the observed spectra than the Ackerman & Marley cloud model. We simulate observations with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) instrument on JWST for a range of nearby, cloudy brown dwarfs, demonstrating that these features could be readily detectable if small particles are present. Furthermore, for photometrically variable brown dwarfs, our predictions suggest that with JWST, by measuring spectroscopic variability inside and outside a mineral feature, we can establish silicate (or other) clouds as the cause of variability. Mid-infrared spectroscopy is a promising tool to empirically constrain the complex cloud condensation sequence in brown dwarf atmospheres.
Results from the Kepler mission indicate that the occurrence rate of small planets (<3 R⊕) in the habitable zone of nearby low-mass stars may be as high as 80%. Despite this abundance, probing the ...conditions and atmospheric properties on any habitable-zone planet is extremely difficult and has remained elusive to date. Here, we report the detection of water vapor and the likely presence of liquid and icy water clouds in the atmosphere of the 2.6 R⊕ habitable-zone planet K2-18b. The simultaneous detection of water vapor and clouds in the mid-atmosphere of K2-18b is particularly intriguing because K2-18b receives virtually the same amount of total insolation from its host star ( 1368 − 107 + 114 W m−2) as the Earth receives from the Sun (1361 W m−2), resulting in the right conditions for water vapor to condense and explain the detected clouds. In this study we observed nine transits of K2-18b using Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 in order to achieve the necessary sensitivity to detect the water vapor, and we supplement this data set with Spitzer and K2 observations to obtain a broader wavelength coverage. While the thick hydrogen-dominated envelope we detect on K2-18b means that the planet is not a true Earth analog, our observations demonstrate that low-mass habitable-zone planets with the right conditions for liquid water are accessible with state-of-the-art telescopes.
The survey of the mid-infrared sky by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) led to the discovery of extremely cold, low-mass brown dwarfs, classified as Y dwarfs, which extend the T class to ...lower temperatures. Twenty-four Y dwarfs are known at the time of writing. Here we present improved parallaxes for four of these, determined using Spitzer images. We give new photometry for four late-type T and three Y dwarfs and new spectra of three Y dwarfs, obtained at Gemini Observatory. We also present previously unpublished photometry taken from HST, ESO, Spitzer, and WISE archives of 11 late-type T and 9 Y dwarfs. The near-infrared data are put onto the same photometric system, forming a homogeneous data set for the coolest brown dwarfs. We compare recent models to our photometric and spectroscopic data set. We confirm that nonequilibrium atmospheric chemistry is important for these objects. Nonequilibrium cloud-free models reproduce well the near-infrared spectra and mid-infrared photometry for the warmer Y dwarfs with 425 ≤ Teff (K) ≤ 450. A small amount of cloud cover may improve the model fits in the near-infrared for the Y dwarfs with 325 ≤ Teff (K) ≤ 375. Neither cloudy nor cloud-free models reproduce the near-infrared photometry for the Teff = 250 K Y dwarf W0855. We use the mid-infrared region, where most of the flux originates, to constrain our models of W0855. We find that W0855 likely has a mass of 1.5-8 Jupiter masses and an age of 0.3-6 Gyr. The Y dwarfs with measured parallaxes are within 20 pc of the Sun and have tangential velocities typical of the thin disk. The metallicities and ages we derive for the sample are generally solar-like. We estimate that the known Y dwarfs are 3 to 20 Jupiter-mass objects with ages of 0.6-8.5 Gyr.
The super-Neptune exoplanet WASP-107b is an exciting target for atmosphere characterization. It has an unusually large atmospheric scale height and a small, bright host star, raising the possibility ...of precise constraints on its current nature and formation history. We report the first atmospheric study of WASP-107b, a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) measurement of its near-infrared transmission spectrum. We determined the planet's composition with two techniques: atmospheric retrieval based on the transmission spectrum and interior structure modeling based on the observed mass and radius. The interior structure models set a 3 upper limit on the atmospheric metallicity of 30× solar. The transmission spectrum shows strong evidence for water absorption (6.5 confidence), and the retrieved water abundance is consistent with expectations for a solar abundance pattern. The inferred carbon-to-oxygen ratio is subsolar at 2.7 confidence, which we attribute to possible methane depletion in the atmosphere. The spectral features are smaller than predicted for a cloud-free composition, crossing less than one scale height. A thick condensate layer at high altitudes (0.1-3 mbar) is needed to match the observations. We find that physically motivated cloud models with moderate sedimentation efficiency (fsed = 0.3) or hazes with a particle size of 0.3 m reproduce the observed spectral feature amplitude. Taken together, these findings serve as an illustration of the diversity and complexity of exoplanet atmospheres. The community can look forward to more such results with the high precision and wide spectral coverage afforded by future observing facilities.
The Neptune-mass GJ 436b is one of the most studied transiting exoplanets with repeated measurements of its thermal emission and transmission spectra. We build on previous studies to answer ...outstanding questions about this planet, including its potentially high metallicity and tidal heating of its interior. We present new observations of GJ 436b's thermal emission at 3.6 and 4.5 m, which reduce uncertainties in estimates of GJ 436b's flux at those wavelengths and demonstrate consistency between Spitzer observations spanning more than 7 yr. We analyze the Spitzer thermal emission photometry and Hubble WFC3 transmission spectrum. We use a dual-pronged modeling approach of both self-consistent and retrieval models. We vary the metallicity, intrinsic luminosity from tidal heating, disequilibrium chemistry, and heat redistribution. We also study clouds and photochemical hazes, but do not find strong evidence for either. The self-consistent and retrieval models combine to suggest that GJ 436b has a high atmospheric metallicity, with best fits at or above several hundred times solar metallicity, tidal heating warming its interior with best-fit intrinsic effective temperatures around 300-350 K, and disequilibrium chemistry. High metal enrichments (>600× solar) occur from the accretion of rocky, rather than icy, material. Assuming the interior temperature Tint ∼ 300-350 K, we find a dissipation factor Q′ ∼ 2 × 105-106, larger than Neptune's Q′, implying a long tidal circularization timescale for the orbit. We suggest that Neptune-mass planets may be more diverse than imagined, with metal enhancements spanning several orders of magnitude, to perhaps over 1000× solar metallicity. High-fidelity observations with instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope will be critical for characterizing this diversity.
Abstract
Comparison of échelle spectra to synthetic models has become a computational statistics challenge, with over 10,000 individual spectral lines affecting a typical cool star échelle spectrum. ...Telluric artifacts, imperfect line lists, inexact continuum placement, and inflexible models frustrate the scientific promise of these information-rich data sets. Here we debut an interpretable machine-learning framework
blasé
that addresses these and other challenges. The semiempirical approach can be viewed as “transfer learning”—first pretraining models on noise-free precomputed synthetic spectral models, then learning the corrections to line depths and widths from whole-spectrum fitting to an observed spectrum. The auto-differentiable model employs back-propagation, the fundamental algorithm empowering modern deep learning and neural networks. Here, however, the 40,000+ parameters symbolize physically interpretable line profile properties such as amplitude, width, location, and shape, plus radial velocity and rotational broadening. This hybrid data-/model-driven framework allows joint modeling of stellar and telluric lines simultaneously, a potentially transformative step forward for mitigating the deleterious telluric contamination in the near-infrared. The
blasé
approach acts as both a deconvolution tool and semiempirical model. The general-purpose scaffolding may be extensible to many scientific applications, including precision radial velocities, Doppler imaging, chemical abundances for Galactic archeology, line veiling, magnetic fields, and remote sensing. Its sparse-matrix architecture and GPU acceleration make
blasé
fast. The open-source PyTorch-based code
blase
includes tutorials, Application Programming Interface documentation, and more. We show how the tool fits into the existing Python spectroscopy ecosystem, demonstrate a range of astrophysical applications, and discuss limitations and future extensions.
Abstract
We constrain the angular momentum architecture of HD 106906, a 13 ± 2 Myr old system in the ScoCen complex composed of a compact central binary, a widely separated planetary-mass tertiary HD ...106906 b, and a debris disk nested between the binary and tertiary orbital planes. We measure the orientations of three vectors: the companion spin axis, companion orbit normal, and disk normal. Using near-IR high-resolution spectra from Gemini/IGRINS, we obtain a projected rotational velocity of
v
sin
i
p
= 9.5 ± 0.2 km s
−1
for HD 106906 b. This measurement together with a published photometric rotation period implies the companion is viewed nearly pole-on, with a line-of-sight spin axis inclination of
i
p
= 14° ± 4° or 166° ± 4°. By contrast, the debris disk is known to be viewed nearly edge on. The likely misalignment of all three vectors suggests HD 106906 b formed by gravitational instability in a turbulent environment, either in a disk or cloud setting.
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