Exoplanets articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Methane emission from a very cool brown dwarf, perhaps arising from an aurora, has been detected in James Webb Space Telescope observations.

    • Jacqueline K. Faherty
    • , Ben Burningham
    •  & Niall Whiteford

  • Research Highlight |

    Astronomers spot the first planet outside the Solar System to boast a phenomenon reminiscent of a rainbow.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Observations from the JWST MIRI/LRS show the detection of SO2 spectral features in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of the hot, Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, suggesting that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres.

    • Diana Powell
    • , Adina D. Feinstein
    •  & Sergei N. Yurchenko

  • Article |

    The JWST MIRI transmission spectrum of WASP-107b, a transiting planet with Neptune-like mass and Jupiter-like radius, shows observations of sulfur dioxide and silicate clouds but no methane in its atmosphere, providing evidence of disequilibrium chemistry and active photochemistry.

    • Achrène Dyrek
    • , Michiel Min
    •  & Gillian Wright

  • Article |

    Observations from the JWST MIRI showed the detection of 14NH3 and 15NH3 isotopologues in the atmosphere of a cool brown dwarf, along with a 14N/15N value consistent with star-like formation by gravitational collapse.

    • David Barrado
    • , Paul Mollière
    •  & Gillian Wright

  • Article |

    Infrared brightening and luminosity observations from a young, solar-like star suggest a collision between two exoplanets producing a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant and transit of the debris causing the visible light eclipse of the host star.

    • Matthew Kenworthy
    • , Simon Lock
    •  & Michael Rizzo Smith

  • Article |

    Observations of the super-massive Neptune-sized transiting planet TOI-1853 b show a mass almost twice that of any other Neptune-sized planet known so far and a bulk density implying that heavy elements dominate its mass.

    • Luca Naponiello
    • , Luigi Mancini
    •  & Tiziano Zingales

  • Article |

    It is reported using a consistent climate model that pure steam atmospheres are commonly shaped by radiative layers, making their thermal structure strongly dependent on the stellar spectrum and internal heat flow.

    • Franck Selsis
    • , Jérémy Leconte
    •  & Émeline Bolmont

  • Article
    | Open Access

     Observations with the sensitive mid-infrared spectrometer MIRI on board JWST reveal the presence of a water vapour reservoir in the terrestrial plant-forming zone of the young planetary system PDS 70.

    • G. Perotti
    • , V. Christiaens
    •  & G. Wright

  • Article |

    The giant planet 8 Ursae Minoris b seems to have avoided engulfment by its giant host star through a stellar merger that either affected the evolution of the host star or produced 8 Ursae Minoris b as a second-generation planet.

    • Marc Hon
    • , Daniel Huber
    •  & Lauren M. Weiss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The detection of thermal emission from the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c using the Mid-Infrared Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope reveals a dayside brightness temperature that disfavours a thick, CO2-rich atmosphere.

    • Sebastian Zieba
    • , Laura Kreidberg
    •  & Gabrielle Suissa

  • Article |

    Analysis of transits of an ultra-hot giant exoplanet reports the precise abundance constraints of 14 major refractory elements, showing distinct deviations from proto-solar, along with a sharp transition temperature at which those elements are depleted.

    • Stefan Pelletier
    • , Björn Benneke
    •  & Julian Stürmer

  • News & Views |

    Astronomers have used observations of infrared light to measure the heat emanating from an Earth-sized exoplanet known as TRAPPIST-1b. Their findings reveal that the planet is a bare rock, devoid of any atmosphere.

    • Laura Kreidberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dayside thermal emission spectrum and brightness temperature map of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b obtained from the NIRISS instrument on the JWST showed water emission features, an atmosphere consistent with solar metallicity, as well as a steep and symmetrical decrease in temperature towards the nightside.

    • Louis-Philippe Coulombe
    • , Björn Benneke
    •  & Peter J. Wheatley

  • Article |

    The authors report on a temperate Earth-sized planet orbiting the cool M6 dwarf LP 791-18 with a radius of 1.03 ± 0.04 R⊕ and an equilibrium temperature of 300–400 K, with the permanent night side plausibly allowing for water condensation.

    • Merrin S. Peterson
    • , Björn Benneke
    •  & Thomas Barclay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study presents high-resolution imaging of the ultracool dwarf LSR J1835 + 3259 at 8.4 GHz, demonstrating that its quiescent radio emission is spatially resolved and traces a double-lobed and axisymmetrical structure with properties consistent with radiation belt observations and modelling.

    • Melodie M. Kao
    • , Amy J. Mioduszewski
    •  & Evgenya L. Shkolnik

  • News & Views |

    An outburst of radiation offers direct evidence that a star has consumed a giant planet. But not every planet ends up as a stellar host’s snack — the star’s properties, and its interactions with the planet, have to be just right.

    • Smadar Naoz

  • Article |

    Observations of ZTF SLRN-2020, a short-lived optical outburst in the Galactic disk accompanied by bright, long-lived infrared emission, show that the resulting light curve and spectra are consistent with the signatures of a planet being engulfed by its host star.

    • Kishalay De
    • , Morgan MacLeod
    •  & Andrew Vanderburg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Observations from the JWST show the presence of a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from SO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b, which is produced by photochemical processes and verified by numerical models.

    • Shang-Min Tsai
    • , Elspeth K. H. Lee
    •  & Sergei N. Yurchenko

  • Article |

    Thermodynamic modelling shows that Earth’s water, core density and overall oxidation state can be explained by the formation of Earth from planetary embryos with hydrogen-rich primary atmospheres and underlying magma oceans.

    • Edward D. Young
    • , Anat Shahar
    •  & Hilke E. Schlichting

  • Article |

    Saturn-mass exoplanet HD 149026b has an atmospheric metallicity 59–276 times solar, which is greater than Saturn’s atmospheric metallicity of roughly 7.5 times solar and more correlated with bulk metallicity than planet mass.

    • Jacob L. Bean
    • , Qiao Xue
    •  & Megan Mansfield

  • News & Views Forum |

    An unprecedented glimpse of a distant planet reveals clues about how it might have formed. Scientists explain why it’s a win for atmospheric chemistry, and celebrate the technology that made it possible.

    • Julia V. Seidel
    • , Louise D. Nielsen
    •  & Subhajit Sarkar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Time-series observations from the JWST of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b show gaseous water in the planet’s atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of methane.

    • Eva-Maria Ahrer
    • , Kevin B. Stevenson
    •  & Xi Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b is obtained using observations from the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument aboard the JWST.

    • Adina D. Feinstein
    • , Michael Radica
    •  & Xi Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A broad-wavelength 0.5–5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b, a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, demonstrates JWST’s sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.

    • Z. Rustamkulov
    • , D. K. Sing
    •  & S. Zieba

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The medium-resolution transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b, described using observations from the Near Infrared Spectrograph G395H grating aboard JWST, shows significant absorption from CO2 and H2O and detection of SO2.

    • Lili Alderson
    • , Hannah R. Wakeford
    •  & Xi Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transmission spectroscopy observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show the detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b.

    • Eva-Maria Ahrer
    • , Lili Alderson
    •  & Sebastian Zieba

  • Article |

    Dynamical simulations of the early Solar System show that the giant planets’ instability was triggered by the dispersal of the Sun’s gaseous disk, constrained by astronomical observations to be a few to ten million years after the birth of the Solar System.

    • Beibei Liu
    • , Sean N. Raymond
    •  & Seth A. Jacobson

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