High-resolution atmospheric retrievals of WASP-76b transmission spectroscopy with ESPRESSO: Monitoring limb asymmetries across multiple transits

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maguire, Cathal, Gibson, Neale P., Nugroho, Stevanus K., Fortune, Mark, Ramkumar, Swaetha, Gandhi, Siddharth, de Mooij, Ernst
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917710783315968
author Maguire, Cathal
Gibson, Neale P.
Nugroho, Stevanus K.
Fortune, Mark
Ramkumar, Swaetha
Gandhi, Siddharth
de Mooij, Ernst
author_facet Maguire, Cathal
Gibson, Neale P.
Nugroho, Stevanus K.
Fortune, Mark
Ramkumar, Swaetha
Gandhi, Siddharth
de Mooij, Ernst
contents Direct atmospheric retrievals of exoplanets at high-resolution have recently allowed for a more detailed characterisation of their chemistry and dynamics from the ground. By monitoring the longitudinal distribution of species, as well as the varying vertical temperature structure and dynamics between the limbs of WASP-76b, across multiple transits, we aim to enhance our understanding of the 3D nature and chemical/dynamical evolution of such objects over the timescales of months/years. We present retrievals of three VLT/ESPRESSO observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b, including one not yet reported in the literature, from which we constrain the atmospheric abundances, vertical temperature structure, and atmospheric dynamics for both the leading and trailing limbs of the atmosphere separately, via novel rotational broadening kernels. We confirm the presence of VO recently reported in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. We find a uniform longitudinal distribution of Fe and Mg across the limbs of the atmosphere, for each of our transits, consistent with previous works as well as with stellar values. We constrain substellar Na/Fe and Cr/Fe ratios across each of our transits, consistent with previous studies of WASP-76b. Where constrained, V/Fe and VO/Fe ratios were also found to be broadly consistent between the limbs of the atmosphere for each of the transits, as well as with previous studies. However, for two of the transits, both V and VO were unconstrained in the leading limb, suggesting possible depletion due to recombination and condensation. The consistency of our constraints across multiple high-resolution observations, as well as with previous studies using varying modelling/retrieval frameworks and/or instruments, affirms the efficacy of high-resolution ground-based retrievals of exoplanetary atmospheres.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_10463
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle High-resolution atmospheric retrievals of WASP-76b transmission spectroscopy with ESPRESSO: Monitoring limb asymmetries across multiple transits
Maguire, Cathal
Gibson, Neale P.
Nugroho, Stevanus K.
Fortune, Mark
Ramkumar, Swaetha
Gandhi, Siddharth
de Mooij, Ernst
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Direct atmospheric retrievals of exoplanets at high-resolution have recently allowed for a more detailed characterisation of their chemistry and dynamics from the ground. By monitoring the longitudinal distribution of species, as well as the varying vertical temperature structure and dynamics between the limbs of WASP-76b, across multiple transits, we aim to enhance our understanding of the 3D nature and chemical/dynamical evolution of such objects over the timescales of months/years. We present retrievals of three VLT/ESPRESSO observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b, including one not yet reported in the literature, from which we constrain the atmospheric abundances, vertical temperature structure, and atmospheric dynamics for both the leading and trailing limbs of the atmosphere separately, via novel rotational broadening kernels. We confirm the presence of VO recently reported in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. We find a uniform longitudinal distribution of Fe and Mg across the limbs of the atmosphere, for each of our transits, consistent with previous works as well as with stellar values. We constrain substellar Na/Fe and Cr/Fe ratios across each of our transits, consistent with previous studies of WASP-76b. Where constrained, V/Fe and VO/Fe ratios were also found to be broadly consistent between the limbs of the atmosphere for each of the transits, as well as with previous studies. However, for two of the transits, both V and VO were unconstrained in the leading limb, suggesting possible depletion due to recombination and condensation. The consistency of our constraints across multiple high-resolution observations, as well as with previous studies using varying modelling/retrieval frameworks and/or instruments, affirms the efficacy of high-resolution ground-based retrievals of exoplanetary atmospheres.
title High-resolution atmospheric retrievals of WASP-76b transmission spectroscopy with ESPRESSO: Monitoring limb asymmetries across multiple transits
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.10463