High-resolution emission spectroscopy retrievals of MASCARA-1b with CRIRES+: Strong detections of CO, H${}_2$O and Fe emission lines and a C$/$O consistent with solar

Abstract

The characterization of exoplanet atmospheres has proven to be successful using high-resolution spectroscopy. Phase curve observations of hot/ultra-hot Jupiters can reveal their compositions and thermal structures, thereby allowing the detection of molecules and atoms in the planetary atmosphere using the cross-correlation technique. We present pre-eclipse observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter, MASCARA-1b, observed with the recently upgraded CRIRES+ high-resolution infrared spectrograph at the VLT. We report a detection of $\mathrm{Fe}$ ($\approx$8.3$\ddot{I}ƒ$) in the K-band and confirm previous detections of $\mathrm{CO}$ (>15$\ddot{I}ƒ$) and ${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$ (>10$\ddot{I}ƒ$) in the day-side atmosphere of MASCARA-1b. Using a Bayesian inference framework, we retrieve the abundances of the detected species and constrain planetary orbital velocities, $T$-$P$ profiles, and the carbon-to-oxygen ratio ($C/O$). A free retrieval results in an elevated $\mathrm{CO}$ abundance (${\log }_{10}$($\ddot{I}{‡}_{{}^{12}\mathrm{CO}}$) = $-2.85_{-0.69}^{+0.57}$), leading to a super-solar $C/O$ ratio. More realistically, allowing for vertically-varying chemistry in the atmosphere by incorporating a chemical-equilibrium model results in a $C/O$ of $0.68_{-0.22}^{+0.12}$ and a metallicity of $[M/H]=0.62_{-0.55}^{+0.28}$, both consistent with solar values. Finally, we also report a slight offset of the $\mathrm{Fe}$ feature in both K${}_{\mathrm{p}}$ and v${}_{\mathrm{sys}}$ that could be a signature of atmospheric dynamics. Due to the 3D structure of exoplanet atmospheres and the exclusion of time/phase dependence in our 1D forward models, further follow-up observations and analysis are required to confirm or refute this result.

21 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society