Information Content of JWST NIRSpec Transmission Spectra of Warm Neptunes

Guzmán-Mesa, Andrea; Kitzmann, Daniel; Fisher, Chloe Elizabeth; Burgasser, Adam J.; Hoeijmakers, H. Jens; Márquez Neila, Pablo; Grimm, Simon L.; Mandell, Avi M.; Sznitman, Raphael; Heng, Kevin (2020). Information Content of JWST NIRSpec Transmission Spectra of Warm Neptunes. The astronomical journal, 160(1), p. 15. American Astronomical Society 10.3847/1538-3881/ab9176

Preview

Text Guzm_n-Mesa_2020_AJ_160_15.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (9MB) | Preview

Warm Neptunes offer a rich opportunity for understanding exo-atmospheric chemistry. With the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), there is a need to elucidate the balance between investments in telescope time versus scientific yield. We use the supervised machine-learning method of the random forest to perform an information content (IC) analysis on a 11-parameter model of transmission spectra from the various NIRSpec modes. The three bluest medium-resolution NIRSpec modes (0.7–1.27 μm, 0.97–1.84 μm, 1.66–3.07 μm) are insensitive to the presence of CO. The reddest medium-resolution mode (2.87–5.10 μm) is sensitive to all of the molecules assumed in our model: CO, CO2, CH4, C2H2, H2O, HCN, and NH3. It competes effectively with the three bluest modes on the information encoded on cloud abundance and particle size. It is also competitive with the low-resolution prism mode (0.6–5.3 μm) on the inference of every parameter except for the temperature and ammonia abundance. We recommend astronomers to use the reddest medium-resolution NIRSpec mode for studying the atmospheric chemistry of 800–1200 K warm Neptunes; its corresponding high-resolution counterpart offers diminishing returns. We compare our findings to previous JWST IC analyses that favor the blue orders and suggest that the reliance on chemical equilibrium could lead to biased outcomes if this assumption does not apply. A simple, pressure-independent diagnostic for identifying chemical disequilibrium is proposed based on measuring the abundances of H2O, CO, and CO2.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

73 since deposited on 09 Mar 2021
18 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item