On the Detection of Exorings in Reflected Light with JWST NIRCam
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866911143149174784 |
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| author | Bowens-Rubin, Rachel Limbach, Mary Anne Hopper, Sam Stephenson, Klaus Subbotina Garza, Matson Fletcher, Leigh N. Hedman, Matthew |
| author_facet | Bowens-Rubin, Rachel Limbach, Mary Anne Hopper, Sam Stephenson, Klaus Subbotina Garza, Matson Fletcher, Leigh N. Hedman, Matthew |
| contents | When directly imaging a cold giant exoplanet hosting a ring system, the reflected light from the rings can outshine the planet's thermal emission and reflected-light in the near-infrared. Consequently, an exoring may be detectable at a significantly lower contrasts than is required to image the exoplanet itself. Here we investigate the detectability of exorings in near-infrared reflected light using NIRCam coronagraphy PanCAKE simulations of two nearby mature stars, Proxima Centauri and Tau Ceti. Under the most favorable assumptions, we find JWST 2$μ$m NIRCam coronagraphy (F200W + MASK335R) is capable of detecting an exoring system with a radius of 2.8 times that of Saturn's A-ring for planets on an orbit with a = 1.3-1.9 AU. Broader simulations indicate that NIRCam can probe large planetary ring systems around mature exoplanets comparable in size to circumplanetary disks, which can reach up to 1000 times the radius of Saturn's A-ring. These results suggest that NIRCam F200W coronagraphy could serendipitously detect large exorings in reflected light under the right conditions. A combined analysis of F200W coronagraphic observations of confirmed exoplanets could provide the first empirical constraints on the occurrence rate of large exorings. Confirming the existence and frequency of exorings spanning the scale between circumplanetary disks and the rings of the Solar System giant planet could offer new insight into the formation, evolution, and architecture of planetary systems. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_07118 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | On the Detection of Exorings in Reflected Light with JWST NIRCam Bowens-Rubin, Rachel Limbach, Mary Anne Hopper, Sam Stephenson, Klaus Subbotina Garza, Matson Fletcher, Leigh N. Hedman, Matthew Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics When directly imaging a cold giant exoplanet hosting a ring system, the reflected light from the rings can outshine the planet's thermal emission and reflected-light in the near-infrared. Consequently, an exoring may be detectable at a significantly lower contrasts than is required to image the exoplanet itself. Here we investigate the detectability of exorings in near-infrared reflected light using NIRCam coronagraphy PanCAKE simulations of two nearby mature stars, Proxima Centauri and Tau Ceti. Under the most favorable assumptions, we find JWST 2$μ$m NIRCam coronagraphy (F200W + MASK335R) is capable of detecting an exoring system with a radius of 2.8 times that of Saturn's A-ring for planets on an orbit with a = 1.3-1.9 AU. Broader simulations indicate that NIRCam can probe large planetary ring systems around mature exoplanets comparable in size to circumplanetary disks, which can reach up to 1000 times the radius of Saturn's A-ring. These results suggest that NIRCam F200W coronagraphy could serendipitously detect large exorings in reflected light under the right conditions. A combined analysis of F200W coronagraphic observations of confirmed exoplanets could provide the first empirical constraints on the occurrence rate of large exorings. Confirming the existence and frequency of exorings spanning the scale between circumplanetary disks and the rings of the Solar System giant planet could offer new insight into the formation, evolution, and architecture of planetary systems. |
| title | On the Detection of Exorings in Reflected Light with JWST NIRCam |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07118 |