JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b

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 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> <mml:mo accent="false">′</mml:mo> </mml:math> imaging of AF Lep b; combining this with the two epochs of F444W photometry and previous Keck <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> <mml:mo accent="false">′</mml:mo> </mml:math> 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.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Published
2024-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad736a
Citations
17
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.64

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article

JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b

Trevor N. Wolf, Timothy D. Brandt, Sagnick Mukherjee, Jacqueline K. Faherty et al.
17 citations
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
5.64
article

JWST/NIRCam 4–5 μm Imaging of the Giant Planet AF Lep b

Trevor N. Wolf, Timothy D. Brandt, Sagnick Mukherjee, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Aniket Sanghi, Lauren I. Biddle, William O. Balmer, Rachel Bowens-Rubin, Emily Rickman, Brendan P. Bowler, Marvin Morgan, Marshall D. Perrin, C. Ginski, Elliott P. Horch, Christopher A. Theissen, Tim D. Pearce, Kyle Franson, Maïssa Salama, Caroline Morley, Zhoujian Zhang, Laurent Pueyo, James W. Davidson, Quang H. Tran, Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi, Yifan Zhou, Justin R. Crepp
article en
17 citations

Abstract

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 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> <mml:mo accent="false">′</mml:mo> </mml:math> imaging of AF Lep b; combining this with the two epochs of F444W photometry and previous Keck <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> <mml:mo accent="false">′</mml:mo> </mml:math> 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.

The Astrophysical Journal LettersVol. 974(1)
University of Notre Dame (US), California Institute of Technology (US), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), American Museum of Natural History (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), Amherst College (US), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway (IE), Southern Connecticut State University (US), University of California San Diego (US), University of Warwick (GB), McCormick (United States) (US), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), University of Virginia (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, W. M. Keck Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Space Telescope Science Institute, UK Research and Innovation, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of California, Los Angeles, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
5.64
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