Dr Xianyu Tan

Abstract:

With infrared flux contrasts larger than typically seen in hot Jupiter, tidally locked white dwarf–brown dwarf binaries offer a superior opportunity to investigate atmospheric processes in irradiated atmospheres. NLTT5306 is such a system, with a M _BD = 52 ± 3 M _Jup brown dwarf, orbiting a T _eff = 7756 ± 35 K white dwarf with an ultra-short period of ∼102 minutes. We present Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 spectroscopic phase curves of NLTT5306, consisting of 47 spectra from 1.1 to 1.7 μ m with an average signal-to-noise ratio ∼ 65 per wavelength. We extracted the phase-resolved spectra of the brown dwarf NLTT5306B, finding a small <100 K day–night temperature difference (∼5% of the average day-side temperature). Our best-fit model phase curves revealed a complex wavelength-dependence on amplitudes and relative phase offsets, suggesting longitudinal–vertical atmospheric structure. The night-side spectrum was well fit by a cloudy, nonirradiated atmospheric model while the day side was best matched by a cloudy, weakly irradiated model. Additionally, we created a simple radiative energy redistribution model of the atmosphere and found evidence for efficient day-to-night heat redistribution and a moderately high Bond albedo. We also discovered an internal heat flux much higher than expected given the published system age, leading to an age reassessment that resulted in NLTT5306B most likely being much younger. We find that NLTT5306B is the only known significantly irradiated brown dwarf where the global temperature structure is not dominated by external irradiation, but rather its own internal heat. Our study provides an essential insight into the drivers of global circulation and day-to-night heat transport as a function of irradiation, rotation rate, and internal heat

Abstract:

The chemical inventory of hot Jupiter (HJ) exoplanets atmospheres continue to be observed by various ground and space based instruments in increasing detail and precision. It is expected that some HJs will exhibit strong non-equilibrium chemistry characteristics in their atmospheres, which might be inferred from spectral observations. We aim to model the three dimensional thermochemical non-equilibrium chemistry in the atmospheres of the HJs WASP-39b and HD 189733b. We couple a lightweight, reduced chemical network `mini-chem' that utilises net reaction rate tables to the Exo-FMS General Circulation Model (GCM). We perform GCM models of the exoplanets WASP-39b and HD 189733b as case studies of the coupled mini-chem scheme. The GCM results are then post-processed using the 3D radiative-transfer model gCMCRT to produce transmission and emission spectra to assess the impact of non-equilibrium chemistry on their observable properties. Both simulations show significant departures from chemical equilibrium (CE) due to the dynamical motions of the atmosphere. The spacial distribution of species generally follows closely the dynamical features of the atmosphere rather than the temperature field. Each molecular species exhibits a different quench level in the simulations, also dependent on the latitude of the planet. Major differences are seen in the transmission and emission spectral features between the CE and kinetic models. Our simulations indicate that considering the 3D kinetic chemical structures of HJ atmospheres has an important impact on physical interpretation of observational data. Drawing bulk atmospheric parameters from fitting feature strengths may lead to inaccurate interpretation of chemical conditions in the atmosphere of HJs. Our open source mini-chem module is simple to couple with contemporary HJ GCM models without substantially increasing required computational resources.Comment: A&A Accepted 17 Feb 202

Abstract:

© 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, to view a copy of the license, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/We present an atmospheric retrieval analysis of a pair of highly variable, ∼200 Myr old, early T type planetary-mass exoplanet analogs SIMP J01365662+0933473 and 2MASS J21392676+0220226 using the Brewster retrieval framework. Our analysis, which makes use of archival 1–15 μm spectra, finds almost identical atmospheres for both objects. For both targets, we find that the data is best described by a patchy, high-altitude forsterite (Mg2SiO4) cloud above a deeper, optically thick iron (Fe) cloud. Our model constrains the cloud properties well, including the cloud locations and cloud particle sizes. We find that the patchy forsterite slab cloud inferred from our retrieval may be responsible for the spectral behavior of the observed variability. Our retrieved cloud structure is consistent with the atmospheric structure previously inferred from spectroscopic variability measurements, but clarifies this picture significantly. We find consistent C/O ratios for both objects, which supports their formation within the same molecular cloud in the Carina-Near moving group. Finally, we note some differences in the constrained abundances of H2O and CO, which may be caused by data quality and/or astrophysical processes such as auroral activity and their differing rotation rates. The results presented in this work provide a promising preview of the detail with which we will characterize extrasolar atmospheres with JWST, which will yield higher-quality spectra across a wider wavelength range.Peer reviewe

Abstract:

Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. Access to an exoplanet's chemical inventory requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based and high-resolution ground-based facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution (R$\sim$600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3-5 $\mu$m covering multiple absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, obtained with JWST NIRSpec G395H. Our observations achieve 1.46x photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO$_2$ (28.5$\sigma$) and H$_2$O (21.5$\sigma$), and identify SO$_2$ as the source of absorption at 4.1 $\mu$m (4.8$\sigma$). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10x solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO$_2$, underscore the importance of characterising the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres, and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time series observations over this critical wavelength range.Comment: 44 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. Resubmitted after revision to Natur