The Fingerprints of Formation Reflected in Current Spectra of Hot Jupiters

The imprint of exoplanet formation history on observable present-day spectra of hot Jupiters

Authors:

Mordasini et al

Abstract:

The composition of a planet's atmosphere is determined by its formation, evolution, and present-day insolation. A planet's spectrum therefore may hold clues on its origins. We present a "chain" of models, linking the formation of a planet to its observable present-day spectrum. The chain links include (1) the planet's formation and migration, (2) its long-term thermodynamic evolution, (3) a variety of disk chemistry models, (4) a non-gray atmospheric model, and (5) a radiometric model to obtain simulated spectroscopic observations with JWST and ARIEL. In our standard chemistry model the inner disk is depleted in refractory carbon as in the Solar System and in white dwarfs polluted by extrasolar planetesimals. Our main findings are: (1) Envelope enrichment by planetesimal impacts during formation dominates the final planetary atmospheric composition of hot Jupiters. We investigate two, under this finding, prototypical formation pathways: a formation inside or outside the water iceline, called "dry" and "wet" planets, respectively. (2) Both the "dry" and "wet" planets are oxygen-rich (C/O<1 0.1="" 0.5="" and="" between="" blocks.="" building="" c="" carbon-rich="" carbon="" chemistries="" clathrate="" depending="" depletion="" disk="" dry="" due="" efficiency.="" for="" formation="" has="" is="" lead="" mainly="" nature="" non-standard="" of="" on="" only="" oxygen-rich="" planet="" ratio="" ratios="" s="" solid="" standard="" the="" to="" typical="" values="" wet="" while="" without="">1 for the "dry" planet. (3) While we consistently find C/O ratios less than 1, they still vary significantly. To link a formation history to a specific C/O, a better understanding of the disk chemistry is thus needed.