WASP-96b
Spectrum of WASP-96b, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope
Discovery[1]
Discovered byHellier et al. (WASP)
Discovery dateOctober 2013
Transit
Orbital characteristics[2]
0.0454±0.0013 AU
Eccentricity<0.11
3.4252602(27) d
Inclination85.60°±0.20°
Semi-amplitude64.0+5.3
−4.8 m/s
Physical characteristics[2]
Mean radius
1.200±0.060 RJ
Mass0.490+0.049
−0.047 MJ
Mean density
0.352+0.068
−0.059 g/cm3
Temperature1285 K[1]

    WASP-96b is a gas giant exoplanet. Its mass is 0.48 times that of Jupiter. It is 0.0453 AU from the class G star WASP-96, which it orbits every 3.4 days. It is about 1,140 light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Phoenix. It was discovered in 2013 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP).

    WASP-96b orbits its Sun-like star WASP-96 every 3.4 Earth days at a distance just one-ninth of the distance between Mercury and the Sun.[3]

    The hot-Jupiter exoplanet was found via the transiting method by Coel Hellier et.al. in 2013 as part of the WASP-South survey.[1]

    Atmosphere

    WASP-96b's spectrum was one of the images featured in the initial science release from the James Webb Space Telescope in July 2022.[4] The spectrum confirmed the presence of water, as well as providing evidence for "clouds and hazes" within the planet's atmosphere.[3] Prior to this discovery, WASP-96b was thought to be free of clouds.[5][6]

    While the light curve released confirms properties of the planet that had already been determined from other observations – the existence, size, and orbit of the planet – the transmission spectrum revealed previously hidden details of the atmosphere: the unambiguous signature of water, indications of haze, and evidence of clouds that were suspected based on prior observations.[7]

    A study in 2023 measured the abundance of certain chemical species in the atmosphere of WASP-96b as seen in the table below.[8] Models of the atmosphere with patchy clouds and hazes best describes the observations through the James Webb Space Telescope.[8]

    Chemical Species[8] log(VMR)[8] Concentration
    Water vapor -3.59+0.35
    −0.35    		 257 ppm
    Carbon monoxide -3.25+0.91
    −5.06    		 562 ppm
    Carbon dioxide -4.38+0.47
    −0.57    		 41.7 ppm
    Sodium -6.85+2.48
    −3.10    		 141 ppb
    Potassium -8.04+1.22
    −1.71    		 9.12 ppb

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Hellier, Coel; Anderson, D. R.; Cameron, A. Collier; Delrez, L.; Gillon, M.; Jehin, E.; Lendl, M.; Maxted, P. F. L.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Ségransan, D.; Smalley, B.; Smith, A. M. S.; Southworth, J.; Triaud, A. H. M. J.; Udry, S.; West, R. G. (2013), "Transiting hot Jupiters from WASP-South, Euler and TRAPPIST: WASP-95b to WASP-101b", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 440 (3): 1982–1992, arXiv:1310.5630, Bibcode:2014MNRAS.440.1982H, doi:10.1093/mnras/stu410
    2. 1 2 Bonomo, A. S.; Desidera, S.; et al. (June 2017). "The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. XIV. Investigating giant planet migration history via improved eccentricity and mass determination for 231 transiting planets". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 602: A107. arXiv:1704.00373. Bibcode:2017A&A...602A.107B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629882. S2CID 118923163.
    3. 1 2 "NASA's Webb Reveals Steamy Atmosphere of Distant Planet in Detail". NASA. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
    4. ↑ Cesari, Thaddeus (2022-07-11). "NASA Shares List of Cosmic Targets for Webb Telescope's First Images". NASA. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
    5. ↑ Jorgenson, Amber (2018-05-08). "WASP-96b: the cloudless exoplanet". Astronomy.com. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
    6. ↑ McGruder, Chima D.; López-Morales, Mercedes; Kirk, James; Espinoza, Néstor; Rackham, Benjamin V.; Alam, Munazza K.; Allen, Natalie; Nikolov, Nikolay; Weaver, Ian C.; Ortiz Ceballos, Kevin; Osip, David J.; Apai, Dániel; Jordán, Andrés; Fortney, Jonathan J. (2022), "ACCESS: Confirmation of a Clear Atmosphere for WASP-96b and a Comparison of Light Curve Detrending Techniques", The Astronomical Journal, 164 (4): 134, arXiv:2207.03479, Bibcode:2022AJ....164..134M, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac7f2e, S2CID 250334756
    7. ↑ Samra, D.; Helling, Ch.; Chubb, K. L.; Min, M.; Carone, L.; Schneider, A. D. (2023), "Clouds form on the hot Saturn JWST ERO target WASP-96b", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 669: A142, arXiv:2211.00633, Bibcode:2023A&A...669A.142S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244939, S2CID 253244425
    8. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Jake; et al. (May 2023). "Awesome SOSS: Atmospheric Characterisation of WASP-96 b using the JWST Early Release Observations". MNRAS. 524: 817–834. arXiv:2305.16887. Bibcode:2023MNRAS.524..817T. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad1547.

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