The Retrieved Atmospheric Properties of the Sub-stellar Object VHS 1256 b from Analyzing HST, VLT and JWST Spectra

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Lueber, Anna, Heng, Kevin, Bowler, Brendan P., Kitzmann, Daniel, Vos, Johanna M., Zhou, Yifan
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866929499042480128
author Lueber, Anna
Heng, Kevin
Bowler, Brendan P.
Kitzmann, Daniel
Vos, Johanna M.
Zhou, Yifan
author_facet Lueber, Anna
Heng, Kevin
Bowler, Brendan P.
Kitzmann, Daniel
Vos, Johanna M.
Zhou, Yifan
contents Motivated by the observed ~30% variations in flux from the L7 dwarf VHS 1256 b, we subjected its time-resolved Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 spectra (measured in two epochs in 2018 and 2020), as well as medium-resolution Very Large Telescope (VLT) X-shooter and Early Release Science James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectra to a suite of both standard Bayesian (nested sampling) and machine-learning (random forest) retrievals. We find that both HST and VLT data require vertically varying abundance profiles of water in order to model the spectra accurately. Despite the large flux variations observed in the HST data, the temporal variability cannot be attributed to a single varying atmospheric property. The retrieved atmospheric quantities are consistent with being invariant across time. However, we find that model grids provide generally poor fits to the measured HST spectra and are unsuitable for quantifying the temporal variability of atmospheric properties. Additionally, our analysis of JWST spectra using model grids indicates consistency in retrieved properties across different wavelength channels. Despite the temporal variability in flux, the retrieved properties between HST and VLT, as well as between HST and JWST, are consistent within the respective posterior uncertainties. Such an outcome bodes well for future retrieval analyses of exoplanetary atmospheres, which are expected to exhibit weaker flux variations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_08254
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Retrieved Atmospheric Properties of the Sub-stellar Object VHS 1256 b from Analyzing HST, VLT and JWST Spectra
Lueber, Anna
Heng, Kevin
Bowler, Brendan P.
Kitzmann, Daniel
Vos, Johanna M.
Zhou, Yifan
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Motivated by the observed ~30% variations in flux from the L7 dwarf VHS 1256 b, we subjected its time-resolved Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 spectra (measured in two epochs in 2018 and 2020), as well as medium-resolution Very Large Telescope (VLT) X-shooter and Early Release Science James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectra to a suite of both standard Bayesian (nested sampling) and machine-learning (random forest) retrievals. We find that both HST and VLT data require vertically varying abundance profiles of water in order to model the spectra accurately. Despite the large flux variations observed in the HST data, the temporal variability cannot be attributed to a single varying atmospheric property. The retrieved atmospheric quantities are consistent with being invariant across time. However, we find that model grids provide generally poor fits to the measured HST spectra and are unsuitable for quantifying the temporal variability of atmospheric properties. Additionally, our analysis of JWST spectra using model grids indicates consistency in retrieved properties across different wavelength channels. Despite the temporal variability in flux, the retrieved properties between HST and VLT, as well as between HST and JWST, are consistent within the respective posterior uncertainties. Such an outcome bodes well for future retrieval analyses of exoplanetary atmospheres, which are expected to exhibit weaker flux variations.
title The Retrieved Atmospheric Properties of the Sub-stellar Object VHS 1256 b from Analyzing HST, VLT and JWST Spectra
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08254