Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec PRISM

Transmission spectroscopy(1-3) of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapour, aerosols and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres(4,5). However, these previous inferences with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations' relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species-in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules(6,7). Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 mu m atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b(8), a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with the JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode(9) as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team Program(10-12). We robustly detect several chemical species at high significance, including Na (19 sigma), H2O (33 sigma), CO2 (28 sigma) and CO (7 sigma). The non-detection of CH4, combined with a strong CO2 feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4 mu m is best explained by SO2 (2.7 sigma), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST's sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.

Automated summary

We measured a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 μm atmospheric transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b using JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode. We detected several chemical species, including Na, H2O, CO2, and CO, with high significance. The non-detection of CH4 and the presence of a strong CO2 feature favor atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. The unexpected absorption feature at 4 μm is best explained by SO2, which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate the sensitivity of JWST to diverse exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.