The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b
- 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
Affiliations
- Kyle Franson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- William O. Balmer
- ORCiD
- Department 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, USA
- Brendan P. Bowler
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Laurent Pueyo
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Yifan Zhou
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
- Emily Rickman
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Zhoujian Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Sagnick Mukherjee
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Tim D. Pearce
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi
- ORCiD
- Department 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, USA
- Lauren I. Biddle
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Timothy D. Brandt
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Rachel Bowens-Rubin
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Justin R. Crepp
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame , 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
- James W. Davidson Jr.
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
- Jacqueline Faherty
- ORCiD
- American Museum of Natural History , 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA
- Christian Ginski
- ORCiD
- School of Natural Sciences, Center for Astronomy, University of Galway , Galway, H91 CF50, Ireland
- Elliott P. Horch
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Southern Connecticut State University , 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
- Marvin Morgan
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Caroline V. Morley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Marshall D. Perrin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Aniket Sanghi
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Maïssa Salama
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Christopher A. Theissen
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Quang H. Tran
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Trevor N. Wolf
- ORCiD
- Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad736a
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 974,
no. 1
p. L11
Abstract
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.
Keywords
