JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b
With a dynamical mass of 3 M _Jup , the recently discovered giant planet AF Lep b is the lowest-mass imaged planet with a direct mass measurement. Its youth and spectral type near the L/T transition make it a promising target to study the impact of clouds and atmospheric chemistry at low surface gra...
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2024-01-01
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| author | Kyle Franson William O. Balmer Brendan P. Bowler Laurent Pueyo Yifan Zhou Emily Rickman Zhoujian Zhang Sagnick Mukherjee Tim D. Pearce Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi Lauren I. Biddle Timothy D. Brandt Rachel Bowens-Rubin Justin R. Crepp James W. Davidson Jr. Jacqueline Faherty Christian Ginski Elliott P. Horch Marvin Morgan Caroline V. Morley Marshall D. Perrin Aniket Sanghi Maïssa Salama Christopher A. Theissen Quang H. Tran Trevor N. Wolf |
| author_facet | Kyle Franson William O. Balmer Brendan P. Bowler Laurent Pueyo Yifan Zhou Emily Rickman Zhoujian Zhang Sagnick Mukherjee Tim D. Pearce Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi Lauren I. Biddle Timothy D. Brandt Rachel Bowens-Rubin Justin R. Crepp James W. Davidson Jr. Jacqueline Faherty Christian Ginski Elliott P. Horch Marvin Morgan Caroline V. Morley Marshall D. Perrin Aniket Sanghi Maïssa Salama Christopher A. Theissen Quang H. Tran Trevor N. Wolf |
| author_sort | Kyle Franson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With a dynamical mass of 3 M _Jup , the recently discovered giant planet AF Lep b is the lowest-mass imaged planet with a direct mass measurement. Its youth and spectral type near the L/T transition make it a promising target to study the impact of clouds and atmospheric chemistry at low surface gravities. In this work, we present JWST/NIRCam imaging of AF Lep b. Across two epochs, we detect AF Lep b in F444W (4.4 μ m) with signal-to-noise ratios of 9.6 and 8.7, respectively. At the planet’s separation of 320 mas during the observations, the coronagraphic throughput is ≈7%, demonstrating that NIRCam’s excellent sensitivity persists down to small separations. The F444W photometry of AF Lep b affirms the presence of disequilibrium carbon chemistry and enhanced atmospheric metallicity. These observations also place deep limits on wider-separation planets in the system, ruling out 1.1 M _Jup planets beyond 15.6 au (0.″58), 1.1 M _Sat planets beyond 27 au (1″), and 2.8 M _Nep planets beyond 67 au (2.″5). We also present new Keck/NIRC2 $L^{\prime} $ imaging of AF Lep b; combining this with the two epochs of F444W photometry and previous Keck $L^{\prime} $ photometry provides limits on the long-term 3–5 μ m variability of AF Lep b on timescales of months to years. AF Lep b is the closest-separation planet imaged with JWST to date, demonstrating that planets can be recovered well inside the nominal (50% throughput) NIRCam coronagraph inner working angle. |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-122b8bd6b18c434e93cbf8296d60a7ca2025-01-09T09:42:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019741L1110.3847/2041-8213/ad736aJWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep bKyle Franson0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4557-414XWilliam O. Balmer1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6396-8439Brendan P. Bowler2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-2288Laurent Pueyo3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3818-408XYifan Zhou4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2969-6040Emily Rickman5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4203-9715Zhoujian Zhang6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3726-4881Sagnick Mukherjee7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-1302Tim D. Pearce8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5653-5635Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8170-7072Lauren I. Biddle10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2646-3727Timothy D. Brandt11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2630-8073Rachel Bowens-Rubin12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5831-9530Justin R. Crepp13https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0800-0593James W. Davidson Jr.14https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1284-7240Jacqueline Faherty15https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6251-0573Christian Ginski16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4438-1971Elliott P. Horch17https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2159-1463Marvin Morgan18https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4022-6234Caroline V. Morley19https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4404-0456Marshall D. Perrin20https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3191-8151Aniket Sanghi21https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1838-4757Maïssa Salama22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5082-6332Christopher A. Theissen23https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9807-5435Quang H. Tran24https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6532-6755Trevor N. Wolf25https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1406-8829Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USAEuropean Space Agency (ESA), ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USADepartment of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKDepartment of Physics & Astronomy , Amherst College, 25 East Drive, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; American Museum of Natural History , 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USADepartment of Physics, University of Notre Dame , 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USAAmerican Museum of Natural History , 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USASchool of Natural Sciences, Center for Astronomy, University of Galway , Galway, H91 CF50, IrelandDepartment of Physics, Southern Connecticut State University , 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKCenter for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USADepartment of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USAWith a dynamical mass of 3 M _Jup , the recently discovered giant planet AF Lep b is the lowest-mass imaged planet with a direct mass measurement. Its youth and spectral type near the L/T transition make it a promising target to study the impact of clouds and atmospheric chemistry at low surface gravities. In this work, we present JWST/NIRCam imaging of AF Lep b. Across two epochs, we detect AF Lep b in F444W (4.4 μ m) with signal-to-noise ratios of 9.6 and 8.7, respectively. At the planet’s separation of 320 mas during the observations, the coronagraphic throughput is ≈7%, demonstrating that NIRCam’s excellent sensitivity persists down to small separations. The F444W photometry of AF Lep b affirms the presence of disequilibrium carbon chemistry and enhanced atmospheric metallicity. These observations also place deep limits on wider-separation planets in the system, ruling out 1.1 M _Jup planets beyond 15.6 au (0.″58), 1.1 M _Sat planets beyond 27 au (1″), and 2.8 M _Nep planets beyond 67 au (2.″5). We also present new Keck/NIRC2 $L^{\prime} $ imaging of AF Lep b; combining this with the two epochs of F444W photometry and previous Keck $L^{\prime} $ photometry provides limits on the long-term 3–5 μ m variability of AF Lep b on timescales of months to years. AF Lep b is the closest-separation planet imaged with JWST to date, demonstrating that planets can be recovered well inside the nominal (50% throughput) NIRCam coronagraph inner working angle.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad736aExtrasolar gaseous giant planetsDirect imagingJames Webb Space TelescopeExoplanet atmospheres |
| spellingShingle | Kyle Franson William O. Balmer Brendan P. Bowler Laurent Pueyo Yifan Zhou Emily Rickman Zhoujian Zhang Sagnick Mukherjee Tim D. Pearce Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi Lauren I. Biddle Timothy D. Brandt Rachel Bowens-Rubin Justin R. Crepp James W. Davidson Jr. Jacqueline Faherty Christian Ginski Elliott P. Horch Marvin Morgan Caroline V. Morley Marshall D. Perrin Aniket Sanghi Maïssa Salama Christopher A. Theissen Quang H. Tran Trevor N. Wolf JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b The Astrophysical Journal Letters Extrasolar gaseous giant planets Direct imaging James Webb Space Telescope Exoplanet atmospheres |
| title | JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b |
| title_full | JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b |
| title_fullStr | JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b |
| title_full_unstemmed | JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b |
| title_short | JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b |
| title_sort | jwst nircam 4 5 μm imaging of the giant planet af lep b |
| topic | Extrasolar gaseous giant planets Direct imaging James Webb Space Telescope Exoplanet atmospheres |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad736a |
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