Products and Models for "A benchmark JWST near-infrared spectrum for the exoplanet WASP-39 b"
Authors/Creators
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University of California, Santa Cruz
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Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Space Telescope Science Institute
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Arizona State University
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University of Warwick
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University of Bristol
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Adolfo Ibáñez University
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University of Chicago
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Chalmers University of Technology
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Université de Montréal
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9.
Johns Hopkins University
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Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Cornell University
Description
Publication Here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02292-x
Observing exoplanets through transmission spectroscopy supplies detailed information on their atmospheric composition, physics, and chemistry. Prior to JWST, these observations were limited to a narrow wavelength range across the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared, alongside broadband photometry at longer wavelengths. To understand more complex properties of exoplanet atmospheres, improved wavelength coverage and resolution are necessary to robustly quantify the influence of a broader range of absorbing molecular species. Here we show a combined analysis of JWST transmission spectroscopy across four different instrumental modes spanning 0.5–5.2 micron using Early Release Science observations of the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b. Our uniform analysis constrains the orbital and stellar parameters within sub-percent precision, including matching the precision obtained by the most precise asteroseismology measurements of stellar density to-date. Leveraging the advantages of a uniform light curve analysis, we improve the agreement between the transmission spectra of all modes, except for the NIRSpec PRISM, which is affected by partial saturation of the detector. Together, these collected data constitute the most comprehensive transmission spectrum of an exoplanet to date, providing unparalleled access to atmospheric absorbers including Na, K, H2O, CO, CO2, and SO2.