Constraints on the Atmospheric Composition of 2002 XV${}_{93}$ from JWST Spectroscopy

Abstract

The recent detection of an atmosphere surrounding the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) 2002 XV${}_{93}$ from stellar occultation measurements has challenged the longstanding view that only the largest TNOs can sustain an atmosphere. Atmospheric refraction modeling of the occultation light curves indicated a surface pressure of 100$-$200 nbar, despite 2002 XV${}_{93}$'s relatively small size (~510 km in diameter) and weak surface gravity. Together with the detection of methane fluorescence on Makemake, this result suggests that tenuous atmospheres may be more common among TNOs than previously thought. We report JWST/NIRSpec observations acquired before and after the 2024 stellar occultation measurements, obtained with the PRISM and medium-resolution gratings at resolving powers of ~100 and ~1000, respectively. We detect no statistically significant emission features attributed to methane or carbon monoxide gas. By comparing the higher spectral resolution data with synthetic fluorescence models, we report upper limits for the methane and carbon monoxide surface partial pressures of $(3-10)\times 10^{-6}$ and $(50-300)\times 10^{-6}$ nbar, respectively, substantially below the atmospheric pressure inferred from the occultation measurements. Additionally, we report no evidence of an extended source of either methane gas or refractory material. Our results indicate that the atmospheric interpretation of the occultation measurements may require either a composition dominated by volatile species other than methane and carbon monoxide, with nitrogen and argon as possible candidates, or a methane-dominated atmosphere confined near the surface with a steeply decreasing vertical density profile.

6 pages, 3 figures, published in ApJL

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