Hot Jupiters are among the best-studied exoplanets, but it is still poorly understood how their chemical composition and cloud properties vary with longitude. Theoretical models predict that clouds may condense on the nightside and that molecular abundances can be driven out of equilibrium by zonal winds. Here we report a phase-resolved emission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b measured from 5 μm to 12 μm with the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOf the approximately 25 directly imaged planets to date, all are younger than 500 Myr, and all but six are younger than 100 Myr (ref. ). Eps Ind A (HD209100, HIP108870) is a K5V star of roughly solar age (recently derived as 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO) 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 atmospheres. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of HO and HS (1-10 ppm). However, the SO inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlanets with radii between that of the Earth and Neptune (hereafter referred to as 'sub-Neptunes') are found in close-in orbits around more than half of all Sun-like stars. However, their composition, formation and evolution remain poorly understood. The study of multiplanetary systems offers an opportunity to investigate the outcomes of planet formation and evolution while controlling for initial conditions and environment.
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