Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-16-2023

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Keywords

exoplanet atmospheres, transmission spectroscopy, clouds, wavelengths

Abstract

Clouds are prevalent in many of the exoplanet atmospheres that have been observed to date. For transiting exoplanets, we know if clouds are present because they mute spectral features and cause wavelength-dependent scattering. While the exact composition of these clouds is largely unknown, this information is vital to understanding the chemistry and energy budget of planetary atmospheres. In this work, we observe one transit of the hot Jupiter WASP-17b with JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument Low Resolution Spectrometer and generate a transmission spectrum from 5 to 12 μm. These wavelengths allow us to probe absorption due to the vibrational modes of various predicted cloud species. Our transmission spectrum shows additional opacity centered at 8.6 μm, and detailed atmospheric modeling and retrievals identify this feature as SiO2(s) (quartz) clouds. The SiO2(s) clouds model is preferred at 3.5–4.2σ versus a cloud-free model and at 2.6σ versus a generic aerosol prescription. We find the SiO2(s) clouds are composed of small ∼0.01 μm particles, which extend to high altitudes in the atmosphere. The atmosphere also shows a depletion of H2O, a finding consistent with the formation of high-temperature aerosols from oxygen-rich species. This work is part of a series of studies by our JWST Telescope Scientist Team (JWST-TST), in which we will use Guaranteed Time Observations to perform Deep Reconnaissance of Exoplanet Atmospheres through Multi-instrument Spectroscopy (DREAMS).

Comments

Copyright © IOP Publishing Limited 2024.

Source Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Publisher

IOP Publishing

Volume

956

Issue

2

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/acfc3b

Download

Share

COinS