HST PanCET Program: A Complete Near-UV to Infrared Transmission Spectrum for the Hot Jupiter WASP-79b

Abstract

We present a new optical transmission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-79b. We observed three transits with the STIS instrument mounted on HST, spanning 0.3 - 1.0 um. Combining these transits with previous observations, we construct a complete 0.3 - 5.0 um transmission spectrum of WASP-79b. Both HST and ground-based observations show decreasing transit depths towards blue wavelengths, contrary to expectations from Rayleigh scattering or hazes. We infer atmospheric and stellar properties from the full near-UV to infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-79b using three independent retrieval codes, all of which yield consistent results. Our retrievals confirm previous detections of H${}_2$O (at 4.0$\sigma$ confidence), while providing moderate evidence of H${}^{-}$ bound-free opacity (3.3$\sigma$) and strong evidence of stellar contamination from unocculted faculae (4.7$\sigma$). The retrieved H${}_2$O abundance ($\sim$ 1$\%$) suggests a super-stellar atmospheric metallicity, though stellar or sub-stellar abundances remain consistent with present observations (O/H = 0.3 - 34$\times$ stellar). All three retrieval codes obtain a precise H${}^{-}$ abundance constraint: log(X${}_{{\mathrm{H}}^{-}}$) $\approx$ -8.0 $\pm$ 0.7. The potential presence of H${}^{-}$ suggests that JWST observations may be sensitive to ionic chemistry in the atmosphere of WASP-79b. The inferred faculae are $\sim$ 500 K hotter than the stellar photosphere, covering $\sim$ 15$\%$ of the stellar surface. Our analysis underscores the importance of observing UV - optical transmission spectra in order to disentangle the influence of unocculted stellar heterogeneities from planetary transmission spectra.

27 pages, 10 figures. Resubmitted to AJ after referee report

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