Multi-modal atmospheric characterization of $β$ Pictoris b: Adding high-resolution continuum spectra from GRAVITY

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Main Authors: Ravet, M., Bonnefoy, M., Chauvin, G., Lacour, S., Nowak, M., Charnay, B., Tremblin, P., Homeier, D., Morley, C., Fortney, J., Denis, A., Petrus, S., Palma-Bifani, P., Landman, R., Parker, L. T., Houllé, M., Chomez, A., Worthen, K., Kiefer, F., Marleau, G. -D., Zhang, Z., Birkby, J. L., Millour, F., Lagrange, A. -M., Vigan, A., Otten, G. P. P. L., Shangguan, J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ravet, M.
Bonnefoy, M.
Chauvin, G.
Lacour, S.
Nowak, M.
Charnay, B.
Tremblin, P.
Homeier, D.
Morley, C.
Fortney, J.
Denis, A.
Petrus, S.
Palma-Bifani, P.
Landman, R.
Parker, L. T.
Houllé, M.
Chomez, A.
Worthen, K.
Kiefer, F.
Marleau, G. -D.
Zhang, Z.
Birkby, J. L.
Millour, F.
Lagrange, A. -M.
Vigan, A.
Otten, G. P. P. L.
Shangguan, J.
author_facet Ravet, M.
Bonnefoy, M.
Chauvin, G.
Lacour, S.
Nowak, M.
Charnay, B.
Tremblin, P.
Homeier, D.
Morley, C.
Fortney, J.
Denis, A.
Petrus, S.
Palma-Bifani, P.
Landman, R.
Parker, L. T.
Houllé, M.
Chomez, A.
Worthen, K.
Kiefer, F.
Marleau, G. -D.
Zhang, Z.
Birkby, J. L.
Millour, F.
Lagrange, A. -M.
Vigan, A.
Otten, G. P. P. L.
Shangguan, J.
contents We present the first VLTI/GRAVITY observations at R$_λ\sim 4000$ of $β$ Pic b. These four high S/N ($\sim$20) K-band spectra conserve both the pseudo-continuum and molecular absorption patterns. We analyze them with four self-consistent forward model grids (Exo-REM, ATMO, BT-Settl, Sonora) exploring $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$, log(g), metallicity, C/O, and $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO ratio. We also upgrade our forward modeling code ForMoSA to account for the data multi-modality and combine the GRAVITY epochs with published 1-5 $μ$m photometry, low- to medium-resolution spectra (0.9-7 $μ$m), and high-resolution echelle spectra (2.1-5.2 $μ$m). Sonora and Exo-REM are statistically preferred. Exo-REM yields $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ $=1607.45^{+4.85}_{-6.20}$ K and log(g) $=4.46^{+0.02}_{-0.04}$ dex from GRAVITY alone, and $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ $=1502.74^{+2.32}_{-2.14}$ K and log(g) $=4.00\pm0.01$ dex when including all datasets. Archival data significantly affect the retrieved parameters. C/O remains solar ($0.552^{+0.003}_{-0.002}$) while [M/H] reaches super-solar values (0.50$\pm$0.01). We report the first tentative constraint on log($^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO) $\sim$1.12, though this remains inconclusive due to telluric residuals. Additionally, we estimate the luminosity to be log(L/L$_\odot$) $=-4.01^{+0.04}_{-0.05}$, implying a heavy-element content of up to $\sim$5% (20-80 M$_\oplus$) given the system age and dynamical mass measurements. Access to both continuum and molecular lines at K-band significantly impacts the metallicity, possibly owing to collision-induced absorption shaping the continuum. Echelle spectra do not dominate the final fit with respect to lower resolution data. Future multi-modal frameworks should include weighting schemes reflecting bandwidth and central wavelength coverage.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_25338
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multi-modal atmospheric characterization of $β$ Pictoris b: Adding high-resolution continuum spectra from GRAVITY
Ravet, M.
Bonnefoy, M.
Chauvin, G.
Lacour, S.
Nowak, M.
Charnay, B.
Tremblin, P.
Homeier, D.
Morley, C.
Fortney, J.
Denis, A.
Petrus, S.
Palma-Bifani, P.
Landman, R.
Parker, L. T.
Houllé, M.
Chomez, A.
Worthen, K.
Kiefer, F.
Marleau, G. -D.
Zhang, Z.
Birkby, J. L.
Millour, F.
Lagrange, A. -M.
Vigan, A.
Otten, G. P. P. L.
Shangguan, J.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
We present the first VLTI/GRAVITY observations at R$_λ\sim 4000$ of $β$ Pic b. These four high S/N ($\sim$20) K-band spectra conserve both the pseudo-continuum and molecular absorption patterns. We analyze them with four self-consistent forward model grids (Exo-REM, ATMO, BT-Settl, Sonora) exploring $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$, log(g), metallicity, C/O, and $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO ratio. We also upgrade our forward modeling code ForMoSA to account for the data multi-modality and combine the GRAVITY epochs with published 1-5 $μ$m photometry, low- to medium-resolution spectra (0.9-7 $μ$m), and high-resolution echelle spectra (2.1-5.2 $μ$m). Sonora and Exo-REM are statistically preferred. Exo-REM yields $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ $=1607.45^{+4.85}_{-6.20}$ K and log(g) $=4.46^{+0.02}_{-0.04}$ dex from GRAVITY alone, and $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ $=1502.74^{+2.32}_{-2.14}$ K and log(g) $=4.00\pm0.01$ dex when including all datasets. Archival data significantly affect the retrieved parameters. C/O remains solar ($0.552^{+0.003}_{-0.002}$) while [M/H] reaches super-solar values (0.50$\pm$0.01). We report the first tentative constraint on log($^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO) $\sim$1.12, though this remains inconclusive due to telluric residuals. Additionally, we estimate the luminosity to be log(L/L$_\odot$) $=-4.01^{+0.04}_{-0.05}$, implying a heavy-element content of up to $\sim$5% (20-80 M$_\oplus$) given the system age and dynamical mass measurements. Access to both continuum and molecular lines at K-band significantly impacts the metallicity, possibly owing to collision-induced absorption shaping the continuum. Echelle spectra do not dominate the final fit with respect to lower resolution data. Future multi-modal frameworks should include weighting schemes reflecting bandwidth and central wavelength coverage.
title Multi-modal atmospheric characterization of $β$ Pictoris b: Adding high-resolution continuum spectra from GRAVITY
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25338