JWST-TST DREAMS: Secondary Atmosphere Constraints for the Habitable Zone Planet TRAPPIST-1 e

Abstract

The TRAPPIST-1 system offers one of the best opportunities to characterize temperate terrestrial planets beyond our own solar system. Within the TRAPPIST-1 system, planet e stands out as highly likely to sustain surface liquid water if it possesses an atmosphere. Recently, we reported the first JWST/NIRSpec PRISM transmission spectra of TRAPPIST-1 e, revealing significant stellar contamination, which varied between the four visits. Here, we assess the range of planetary atmospheres consistent with our transmission spectrum. We explore a wide range of atmospheric scenarios via a hierarchy of forward modeling and retrievals. We do not obtain strong evidence for or against an atmosphere. Our results weakly disfavor CO${}_2$-rich atmospheres for pressures corresponding to the surface of Venus and Mars and the cloud tops of Venus at 2$\sigma$. We exclude H${}_2$-rich atmospheres containing CO${}_2$ and CH${}_4$ in agreement with past work, but find that higher mean molecular weight, N${}_2$-rich atmospheres with trace CO${}_2$ and CH${}_4$ are permitted by the data. Both a bare rock and N${}_2$-rich atmospheric scenario provide adequate fits to the data, but do not fully explain all features, which may be due to either uncorrected stellar contamination or atmospheric signals. Ongoing JWST observations of TRAPPIST-1 e, exploiting consecutive transits with TRAPPIST-1 b, will offer stronger constraints via a more effective stellar contamination correction. The present work is part of the JWST Telescope Scientist Team (JWST-TST) Guaranteed Time Observations, which is performing a Deep Reconnaissance of Exoplanet Atmospheres through Multi-instrument Spectroscopy (DREAMS).

arXiv comment29 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

References in corpus (70)

• Habitable Zones Around Main-Sequence Stars: New Estimates
• Seven temperate terrestrial planets around the nearby ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1
• Theoretical Transmission Spectra During Extrasolar Giant Planet Transits
• ExoMol molecular line lists XXX: a complete high-accuracy line list for water
• Extreme Water Loss and Abiotic O${}_2$ Buildup On Planets Throughout the Habitable Zones of M Dwarfs
• petitRADTRANS: a Python radiative transfer package for exoplanet characterization and retrieval
• Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life
• Biosignatures from Earth-Like Planets Around M Dwarfs
• Transmission Spectra as Diagnostics of Extrasolar Giant Planet Atmospheres
• The Transit Light Source Effect: False Spectral Features and Incorrect Densities for M-dwarf Transiting Planets
• PandExo: A Community Tool for Transiting Exoplanet Science with JWST & HST
• ExoMol line lists III: An improved hot rotation-vibration line list for HCN and HNC
• How to Distinguish between Cloudy Mini-Neptunes and Water/Volatile-Dominated Super-Earths
• The Pale Orange Dot: The Spectrum and Habitability of Hazy Archean Earth
• HD 209458b in New Light: Evidence of Nitrogen Chemistry, Patchy Clouds and Sub-Solar Water
• Photochemistry in Terrestrial Exoplanet Atmospheres I: Photochemistry Model and Benchmark Cases
• Observing the Atmospheres of Known Temperate Earth-sized Planets with JWST
• Thermal emission from the Earth-sized exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b using JWST
• Atmospheric reconnaissance of the habitable-zone Earth-sized planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1
• Improved HCN/HNC linelist, model atmospheres and synthetic spectra for WZ Cas
• ExoMol molecular line lists - XVI: The rotation-vibration spectrum of hot H${}_2$S
• The Detectability and Characterization of the TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanet Atmospheres with JWST
• ExoMol line lists -- XXXIX. Ro-vibrational molecular line list for CO${}_2$
• A combined transmission spectrum of the Earth-sized exoplanets TRAPPIST-1 b and c
• No thick carbon dioxide atmosphere on the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c
• Assessing the Habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 System Using a 3D Climate Model
• Modelling climate diversity, tidal dynamics and the fate of volatiles on TRAPPIST-1 planets
• A hybrid line list for CH${}_4$ and hot methane continuum
• Atmospheric Reconnaissance of TRAPPIST-1 b with JWST/NIRISS: Evidence for Strong Stellar Contamination in the Transmission Spectra
• Evolved Climates and Observational Discriminants for the TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System
• Photochemistry in Terrestrial Exoplanet Atmospheres II: H2S and SO2 Photochemistry in Anoxic Atmospheres
• The Habitable Zones of Pre-Main-Sequence Stars
• Detectability of biosignatures in anoxic atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope: A TRAPPIST-1e case study
• Quantifying and Predicting the Presence of Clouds in Exoplanet Atmospheres
• A JWST transmission spectrum of a nearby Earth-sized exoplanet
• ExoMol molecular line lists -- XXXVII: spectra of acetylene
• Atmospheric Escape Processes and Planetary Atmospheric Evolution
• Impact of Clouds and Hazes on the Simulated JWST Transmission Spectra of Habitable Zone Planets in the TRAPPIST-1 System
• Outgassing on stagnant-lid super-Earths
• Titan solar occultation observations reveal transit spectra of a hazy world
• Revised mass-radius relationships for water-rich rocky planets more irradiated than the runaway greenhouse limit
• Early 2017 observations of TRAPPIST-1 with $\text{Spitzer}$
• The Case and Context for Atmospheric Methane as an Exoplanet Biosignature
• The Composition and Chemistry of Titan's Atmosphere
• ExoMol molecular line lists - XXVII: spectra of C2H4
• A review of possible planetary atmospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 system
• POSEIDON: A Multidimensional Atmospheric Retrieval Code for Exoplanet Spectra
• A more comprehensive habitable zone for finding life on other planets
• Pebble-driven planet formation for TRAPPIST-1 and other compact systems
• Photochemistry of Anoxic Abiotic Habitable Planet Atmospheres: Impact of New H${}_2$O Cross-Sections
• Pebbles versus Planetesimals: The case of Trappist-1
• The TRAPPIST-1 Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison (THAI). Part II: Moist Cases -- The Two Waterworlds
• TRIDENT: A Rapid 3D Radiative Transfer Model for Exoplanet Transmission Spectra
• TRAPPIST-1: Global Results of the Spitzer Exploration Science Program {\it Red Worlds}
• Limits on Clouds and Hazes for the TRAPPIST-1 Planets
• Abundant atmospheric methane from volcanism on terrestrial planets is unlikely and strengthens the case for methane as a biosignature
• Clouds and Clarity: Revisiting Atmospheric Feature Trends in Neptune-size Exoplanets
• Constraining the Thickness of the Atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1 b from its JWST Secondary Eclipse Observation
• Survival of Terrestrial N2-O2 Atmospheres in Violent XUV Environments through Efficient Atomic Line Radiative Cooling
• A Limited Habitable Zone for Complex Life
• Combined analysis of the 12.8 and 15 $\mu m$ JWST/MIRI eclipse observations of TRAPPIST-1 b
• The erosion of large primary atmospheres typically leaves behind substantial secondary atmospheres on temperate rocky planets
• Airy worlds or barren rocks? On the survivability of secondary atmospheres around the TRAPPIST-1 planets
• Differentiating Modern and Prebiotic Earth Scenarios for TRAPPIST-1e: High-resolution Transmission Spectra and Predictions for JWST
• Assessment of Isoprene as a Possible Biosignature Gas in Exoplanets with Anoxic Atmospheres
• Implications of atmospheric nondetections for Trappist-1 inner planets on atmospheric retention prospects for outer planets
• Detecting the proposed CH4-CO2 biosignature pair with the James Webb Space Telescope: TRAPPIST-1e and the effect of cloud/haze
• JWST-TST DREAMS: NIRSpec/PRISM Transmission Spectroscopy of the Habitable Zone Planet TRAPPIST-1 e
• Photochemical Runaway in Exoplanet Atmospheres: Implications for Biosignatures
• Habitable Zone and Atmosphere Retention Distance (HaZARD) Stellar-evolution-dependent loss models of secondary atmospheres

Cited by in corpus (6)

• JWST-TST DREAMS: NIRSpec/PRISM Transmission Spectroscopy of the Habitable Zone Planet TRAPPIST-1 e
• Helium escaping from the atmosphere of a nearby rocky exoplanet orbiting in a habitable zone
• Separating flare and secondary atmospheric signals with RADYN modeling of near-infrared JWST transmission spectroscopy observations of TRAPPIST-1
• A Panchromatic JWST Spectrum of a Giant Starspot on the Fully Convective M-dwarf TOI-3884
• An Evolving Cosmic Shoreline and Sandbar Bounding the Rocky Airless Valley
• Modeling Volcanic Plume Heights Across Exoplanet Atmospheres: Insights from TRAPPIST-1