A Sulfur-Rich Atmosphere for the Young Jupiter Analog AF Lep b Reveals Significant Solid Accretion

Abstract

AF Lep b is one of the closest analogs to Jupiter in terms of mass ($3-4M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$) and semi-major axis ($9$ AU) amenable to spectroscopic characterization. We present JWST/NIRSpec high-contrast spectroscopy of the planet from $2.85-5.3\mu$m at $R\sim 3000$, which provide detections of CO${}_2$, H${}_2$S, CH${}_4$, ${}^{12}$CO (and ${}^{13}$CO), and H${}_2$O, as well as complementary JWST/NIRCam imaging that captures the planet's continuum flux from $4.0-4.7\mu$m. Combining the JWST observations with spectra from VLTI/GRAVITY and VLT/SPHERE ($1.0-2.5\mu$m), we carry out atmospheric retrievals that include the effects of clouds and disequilibrium chemistry while allowing the C, O, and S abundances to vary independently. AF Lep b exhibits metal enrichment across C, O, and S with $C/H=2.9\pm 0.5$, $O/H=3.7\pm 0.6$, and $S/H=4.7\pm 0.7\times$ solar (and stellar). The planet's slightly sub-solar C/O and C/S are consistent with formation near its observed location, and disfavor formation beyond the CO snowline. The sulfur enrichment in AF Lep b implies significant accretion of disk solids during formation, and we estimate the planet contains $56\pm 7M_{\oplus }$ of solids. The C, O, and S enrichment levels of AF Lep b are similar to those of Jupiter, and other super-Jupiters like HR 8799 bcde. We also show that the degree of atmospheric metal enrichment of these imaged planets is similar to the bulk metal enrichment of transiting gas giants with masses greater than $\sim 1M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$, suggesting that the process and efficiency of metal accretion for gas giants may not be strongly dependent on orbital distance or planet mass.

Accepted to AJ