Atmospheric constraints on GJ 1214 b from CRIRES+ and prospects for characterisation with ANDES
Fuente:
arXiv
Salvato in:
| Autori principali: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
|
| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | |
| Tags: |
Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
|
| _version_ | 1866915807712247808 |
|---|---|
| author | Peláez-Torres, A. Sánchez-López, A. Jiang, C. Pallé, E. Orell-Miquel, J. López-Puertas, M. Parker, L. T. Diamond-Lowe, H. |
| author_facet | Peláez-Torres, A. Sánchez-López, A. Jiang, C. Pallé, E. Orell-Miquel, J. López-Puertas, M. Parker, L. T. Diamond-Lowe, H. |
| contents | In this study, we aim to constrain the atmospheric composition of GJ 1214 b using all available transits observed with the upgraded CRIRES+ spectrograph at the VLT by searching for the signatures of water vapour, methane, and carbon dioxide. We analysed eight CRIRES+ transit datasets covering the K band (1.90-2.45 microns) at a resolving power of R ~ 100,000. We used the SysRem algorithm to correct for telluric and stellar contributions and employed the cross-correlation technique with templates from petitRADTRANS to search for H2O, CH4, and CO2. Injection-recovery tests across a grid of metallicities (Z) and cloud-deck pressures (pc) were performed to quantify detection limits. We also generated predictions for ANDES observations using end-to-end simulated datasets with EXoPLORE. We detect no significant H2O, CH4, or CO2 signatures. Injection-recovery tests show that such non-detections exclude atmospheres with low-altitude clouds and moderate or low metallicities. CH4 yields the tightest empirical limits, with CO2 unexpectedly ruling out intermediate metallicities (~ 100xsolar) with clouds deeper due to its rapidly rising opacity in compressed, high-Z atmospheres. Our constraints are in line with either a high-Z or a high-altitude aerosol layer, in agreement with recent JWST inferences. The combined analysis of eight CRIRES+ datasets provides the most stringent high-resolution constraints on the atmospheric properties of GJ 1214 b to date. Simulations of a single transit observed with ANDES on the ELT predict modest improvements for H2O, a substantially expanded detectable region for CH4, and the strongest gains for CO2, making the latter a particularly effective tracer for characterising high-metallicity atmospheres in sub-Neptunes. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_14343 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Atmospheric constraints on GJ 1214 b from CRIRES+ and prospects for characterisation with ANDES Peláez-Torres, A. Sánchez-López, A. Jiang, C. Pallé, E. Orell-Miquel, J. López-Puertas, M. Parker, L. T. Diamond-Lowe, H. Earth and Planetary Astrophysics In this study, we aim to constrain the atmospheric composition of GJ 1214 b using all available transits observed with the upgraded CRIRES+ spectrograph at the VLT by searching for the signatures of water vapour, methane, and carbon dioxide. We analysed eight CRIRES+ transit datasets covering the K band (1.90-2.45 microns) at a resolving power of R ~ 100,000. We used the SysRem algorithm to correct for telluric and stellar contributions and employed the cross-correlation technique with templates from petitRADTRANS to search for H2O, CH4, and CO2. Injection-recovery tests across a grid of metallicities (Z) and cloud-deck pressures (pc) were performed to quantify detection limits. We also generated predictions for ANDES observations using end-to-end simulated datasets with EXoPLORE. We detect no significant H2O, CH4, or CO2 signatures. Injection-recovery tests show that such non-detections exclude atmospheres with low-altitude clouds and moderate or low metallicities. CH4 yields the tightest empirical limits, with CO2 unexpectedly ruling out intermediate metallicities (~ 100xsolar) with clouds deeper due to its rapidly rising opacity in compressed, high-Z atmospheres. Our constraints are in line with either a high-Z or a high-altitude aerosol layer, in agreement with recent JWST inferences. The combined analysis of eight CRIRES+ datasets provides the most stringent high-resolution constraints on the atmospheric properties of GJ 1214 b to date. Simulations of a single transit observed with ANDES on the ELT predict modest improvements for H2O, a substantially expanded detectable region for CH4, and the strongest gains for CO2, making the latter a particularly effective tracer for characterising high-metallicity atmospheres in sub-Neptunes. |
| title | Atmospheric constraints on GJ 1214 b from CRIRES+ and prospects for characterisation with ANDES |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.14343 |