The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
The JWST Early-release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems II: A 1 to 20 μm Spectrum of the Planetary-mass Companion VHS 1256–1257 b
- Brittany E. Miles,
- Beth A. Biller,
- Polychronis Patapis,
- Kadin Worthen,
- Emily Rickman,
- Kielan K. W. Hoch,
- Andrew Skemer,
- Marshall D. Perrin,
- Niall Whiteford,
- Christine H. Chen,
- B. Sargent,
- Sagnick Mukherjee,
- Caroline V. Morley,
- Sarah E. Moran,
- Mickael Bonnefoy,
- Simon Petrus,
- Aarynn L. Carter,
- Elodie Choquet,
- Sasha Hinkley,
- Kimberly Ward-Duong,
- Jarron M. Leisenring,
- Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer,
- Laurent Pueyo,
- Shrishmoy Ray,
- Steph Sallum,
- Karl R. Stapelfeldt,
- Jordan M. Stone,
- Jason J. Wang,
- Olivier Absil,
- William O. Balmer,
- Anthony Boccaletti,
- Mariangela Bonavita,
- Mark Booth,
- Brendan P. Bowler,
- Gael Chauvin,
- Valentin Christiaens,
- Thayne Currie,
- Camilla Danielski,
- Jonathan J. Fortney,
- Julien H. Girard,
- Carol A. Grady,
- Alexandra Z. Greenbaum,
- Thomas Henning,
- Dean C. Hines,
- Markus Janson,
- Paul Kalas,
- Jens Kammerer,
- Grant M. Kennedy,
- Matthew A. Kenworthy,
- Pierre Kervella,
- Pierre-Olivier Lagage,
- Ben W. P. Lew,
- Michael C. Liu,
- Bruce Macintosh,
- Sebastian Marino,
- Mark S. Marley,
- Christian Marois,
- Elisabeth C. Matthews,
- Brenda C. Matthews,
- Dimitri Mawet,
- Michael W. McElwain,
- Stanimir Metchev,
- Michael R. Meyer,
- Paul Molliere,
- Eric Pantin,
- Andreas Quirrenbach,
- Isabel Rebollido,
- Bin B. Ren,
- Glenn Schneider,
- Malavika Vasist,
- Mark C. Wyatt,
- Yifan Zhou,
- Zackery W. Briesemeister,
- Marta L. Bryan,
- Per Calissendorff,
- Faustine Cantalloube,
- Gabriele Cugno,
- Matthew De Furio,
- Trent J. Dupuy,
- Samuel M. Factor,
- Jacqueline K. Faherty,
- Michael P. Fitzgerald,
- Kyle Franson,
- Eileen C. Gonzales,
- Callie E. Hood,
- Alex R. Howe,
- Adam L. Kraus,
- Masayuki Kuzuhara,
- Anne-Marie Lagrange,
- Kellen Lawson,
- Cecilia Lazzoni,
- Pengyu Liu,
- Jorge Llop-Sayson,
- James P. Lloyd,
- Raquel A. Martinez,
- Johan Mazoyer,
- Sascha P. Quanz,
- Jea Adams Redai,
- Matthias Samland,
- Joshua E. Schlieder,
- Motohide Tamura,
- Xianyu Tan,
- Taichi Uyama,
- Arthur Vigan,
- Johanna M. Vos,
- Kevin Wagner,
- Schuyler G. Wolff,
- Marie Ygouf,
- Xi Zhang,
- Keming Zhang,
- Zhoujian Zhang
Affiliations
- Brittany E. Miles
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-4575, USA; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Beth A. Biller
- ORCiD
- Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Polychronis Patapis
- ORCiD
- Institute of Particle Physics and Astrophysics , ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 27, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Kadin Worthen
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Emily Rickman
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, MD 21218, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Kielan K. W. Hoch
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Andrew Skemer
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Marshall D. Perrin
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Niall Whiteford
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
- Christine H. Chen
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- B. Sargent
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Sagnick Mukherjee
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Caroline V. Morley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Sarah E. Moran
- ORCiD
- Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Mickael Bonnefoy
- ORCiD
- Université Grenoble Alpes , Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique (IPAG), F-38000 Grenoble, France
- Simon Petrus
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física y Astronomía Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso , Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso, Chile; Núcleo Milenio Formacíon Planetaria—NPF, Universidad de Valparaíso , Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso, Chile
- Aarynn L. Carter
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Elodie Choquet
- ORCiD
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
- Sasha Hinkley
- ORCiD
- University of Exeter , Astrophysics Group, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK
- Kimberly Ward-Duong
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Smith College , Northampton, MA, 01063, USA
- Jarron M. Leisenring
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Laurent Pueyo
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Shrishmoy Ray
- ORCiD
- University of Exeter , Astrophysics Group, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK
- Steph Sallum
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-4575, USA
- Karl R. Stapelfeldt
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Mail Stop 321-100, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena CA 91109 USA
- Jordan M. Stone
- ORCiD
- Naval Research Laboratory, Remote Sensing Division , 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 USA
- Jason J. Wang
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Olivier Absil
- ORCiD
- STAR Institute, Université de Liège , Allée du Six Août 19c, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
- William O. Balmer
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Anthony Boccaletti
- ORCiD
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL , CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France
- Mariangela Bonavita
- ORCiD
- School of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University , Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
- Mark Booth
- ORCiD
- Astrophysikalisches Institut und Universitätssternwarte, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena , Schillergäßchen2-3, D-07745 Jena, Germany
- Brendan P. Bowler
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Gael Chauvin
- ORCiD
- Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange, Université Cote dÕAzur , CNRS, Observatoire de la Cote dÕAzur, F-06304 Nice, France
- Valentin Christiaens
- ORCiD
- STAR Institute, Université de Liège , Allée du Six Août 19c, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
- Thayne Currie
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas-San Antonio , 1 UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, USA; Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A‘ohōkū Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
- Camilla Danielski
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, E-18008, Granada, Spain
- Jonathan J. Fortney
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Julien H. Girard
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Carol A. Grady
- Eureka Scientific , 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 1, Oakland CA, 96402, USA
- Alexandra Z. Greenbaum
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Thomas Henning
- ORCiD
- MPI for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Dean C. Hines
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Markus Janson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University , AlbaNova University Center, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- Paul Kalas
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, 501 Campbell Hall, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA; SETI Institute , Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View CA 94043, USA; Institute of Astrophysics , FORTH, GR-71110 Heraklion, Greece
- Jens Kammerer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Grant M. Kennedy
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick , Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Matthew A. Kenworthy
- ORCiD
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
- Pierre Kervella
- ORCiD
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL , CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France
- Pierre-Olivier Lagage
- Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité , CEA, CNRS, AIM, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Ben W. P. Lew
- ORCiD
- Bay Area Environmental Research Institute and NASA Ames Research Center , Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
- Michael C. Liu
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu HI 96822, USA
- Bruce Macintosh
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University , Stanford California 94305, USA
- Sebastian Marino
- ORCiD
- Jesus College, University of Cambridge , Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BL, UK; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
- Mark S. Marley
- ORCiD
- Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Christian Marois
- ORCiD
- National Research Council of Canada
- Elisabeth C. Matthews
- ORCiD
- Observatoire de l’Université de Genève , Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- Brenda C. Matthews
- ORCiD
- Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre , National Research Council of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
- Dimitri Mawet
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Michael W. McElwain
- ORCiD
- Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Stanimir Metchev
- ORCiD
- Western University , Department of Physics & Astronomy and Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada
- Michael R. Meyer
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , 1085 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Paul Molliere
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Eric Pantin
- ORCiD
- IRFU/DAp Département D’Astrophysique CE Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Andreas Quirrenbach
- Landessternwarte, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg , Königstuhl 12, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Isabel Rebollido
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Bin B. Ren
- ORCiD
- Université Grenoble Alpes , Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique (IPAG), F-38000 Grenoble, France
- Glenn Schneider
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Malavika Vasist
- ORCiD
- STAR Institute, Université de Liège , Allée du Six Août 19c, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
- Mark C. Wyatt
- ORCiD
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK
- Yifan Zhou
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Zackery W. Briesemeister
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Marta L. Bryan
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, 501 Campbell Hall, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Per Calissendorff
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , 1085 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
- Faustine Cantalloube
- ORCiD
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
- Gabriele Cugno
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Matthew De Furio
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Trent J. Dupuy
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
- Samuel M. Factor
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Jacqueline K. Faherty
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
- Michael P. Fitzgerald
- ORCiD
- University of California , Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza Box 951547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
- Kyle Franson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA; Department of Astronomy and Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University , 122 Sciences Drive, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Eileen C. Gonzales
- ORCiD
- Astrobiology Center of NINS , 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan; NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Callie E. Hood
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Alex R. Howe
- ORCiD
- University of Exeter , School of Physics and Astronomy, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QL, UK
- Adam L. Kraus
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Masayuki Kuzuhara
- ORCiD
- SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, University of Edinburgh , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Anne-Marie Lagrange
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL , CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France
- Kellen Lawson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University , Ithaca NY 14850, USA
- Cecilia Lazzoni
- ORCiD
- ETH Zurich, Institute for Particle Physics & Astrophysics , Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 27, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Pengyu Liu
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Jorge Llop-Sayson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- James P. Lloyd
- The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Raquel A. Martinez
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-4575, USA
- Johan Mazoyer
- ORCiD
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL , CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France
- Sascha P. Quanz
- ORCiD
- Atmospheric, Ocean, and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , UK
- Jea Adams Redai
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , Central Park West at 79th Street, NY 10024, USA
- Matthias Samland
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Joshua E. Schlieder
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Motohide Tamura
- ORCiD
- The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Xianyu Tan
- ORCiD
- Atmospheric, Ocean, and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , UK
- Taichi Uyama
- ORCiD
- IPAC, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Arthur Vigan
- ORCiD
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
- Johanna M. Vos
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , Central Park West at 79th Street, NY 10024, USA
- Kevin Wagner
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Schuyler G. Wolff
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Marie Ygouf
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Mail Stop 321-100, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena CA 91109 USA
- Xi Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Keming Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, 501 Campbell Hall, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Zhoujian Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acb04a
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 946,
no. 1
p. L6
Abstract
We present the highest fidelity spectrum to date of a planetary-mass object. VHS 1256 b is a <20 M _Jup widely separated (∼8″, a = 150 au), young, planetary-mass companion that shares photometric colors and spectroscopic features with the directly imaged exoplanets HR 8799c, d, and e. As an L-to-T transition object, VHS 1256 b exists along the region of the color–magnitude diagram where substellar atmospheres transition from cloudy to clear. We observed VHS 1256 b with JWST's NIRSpec IFU and MIRI MRS modes for coverage from 1 to 20 μ m at resolutions of ∼1000–3700. Water, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sodium, and potassium are observed in several portions of the JWST spectrum based on comparisons from template brown dwarf spectra, molecular opacities, and atmospheric models. The spectral shape of VHS 1256 b is influenced by disequilibrium chemistry and clouds. We directly detect silicate clouds, the first such detection reported for a planetary-mass companion.
Keywords
