NobleBlocks

Excellence Cluster Origins

facilityGarching, Germany

Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from Excellence Cluster Origins (Germany). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.

Total works
948
Citations
22.3K
h-index
66
i10-index
478
Also known as
Excellence Cluster OriginsExzellenzcluster Origins

Top-cited papers from Excellence Cluster Origins

Overview of the Instrumentation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
B. Abareshi, J. Aguilar, S. P. Ahlen, Shadab Alam +4 more
2022· The Astronomical Journal406doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac882b

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) embarked on an ambitious 5 yr survey in 2021 May to explore the nature of dark energy with spectroscopic measurements of 40 million galaxies and quasars. DESI will determine precise redshifts and employ the baryon acoustic oscillation method to measure distances from the nearby universe to beyond redshift z > 3.5, and employ redshift space distortions to measure the growth of structure and probe potential modifications to general relativity. We describe the significant instrumentation we developed to conduct the DESI survey. This includes: a wide-field, 3.°2 diameter prime-focus corrector; a focal plane system with 5020 fiber positioners on the 0.812 m diameter, aspheric focal surface; 10 continuous, high-efficiency fiber cable bundles that connect the focal plane to the spectrographs; and 10 identical spectrographs. Each spectrograph employs a pair of dichroics to split the light into three channels that together record the light from 360–980 nm with a spectral resolution that ranges from 2000–5000. We describe the science requirements, their connection to the technical requirements, the management of the project, and interfaces between subsystems. DESI was installed at the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and has achieved all of its performance goals. Some performance highlights include an rms positioner accuracy of better than 0.″1 and a median signal-to-noise ratio of 7 of the [O ii ] doublet at 8 × 10 −17 erg s −1 cm −2 in 1000 s for galaxies at z = 1.4–1.6. We conclude with additional highlights from the on-sky validation and commissioning, key successes, and lessons learned.

The SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey
A. Merloni, G. Lamer, Teng Liu, M. E. Ramos-Ceja +4 more
2024· Astronomy and Astrophysics329doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347165

The eROSITA telescope array aboard the Spektrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG) satellite began surveying the sky in December 2019, with the aim of producing all-sky X-ray source lists and sky maps of an unprecedented depth. Here we present catalogues of both point-like and extended sources using the data acquired in the first six months of survey operations (eRASS1; completed June 2020) over the half sky whose proprietary data rights lie with the German eROSITA Consortium. We describe the observation process, the data analysis pipelines, and the characteristics of the X-ray sources. With nearly 930 000 entries detected in the most sensitive 0.2–2.3 keV energy range, the eRASS1 main catalogue presented here increases the number of known X-ray sources in the published literature by more than 60%, and provides a comprehensive inventory of all classes of X-ray celestial objects, covering a wide range of physical processes. A smaller catalogue of 5466 sources detected in the less sensitive but harder 2.3–5 keV band is the result of the first true imaging survey of the entire sky above 2 keV. We present methods to identify and flag potential spurious sources in the catalogues, which we applied for this work, and we tested and validated the astrometric accuracy via cross-comparison with other X-ray and multi-wavelength catalogues. We show that the number counts of X-ray sources in eRASSl are consistent with those derived over narrower fields by past X-ray surveys of a similar depth, and we explore the number counts variation as a function of the location in the sky. Adopting a uniform all-sky flux limit (at 50% completeness) of F 05–2 keV > 5 × 10 −14 erg s −1 cm −2 , we estimate that the eROSITA all-sky survey resolves into individual sources about 20% of the cosmic X-ray background in the 1–2 keV range. The catalogues presented here form part of the first data release (DR1) of the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey. Beyond the X-ray catalogues, DR1 contains all detected and calibrated event files, source products (light curves and spectra), and all-sky maps. Illustrative examples of these are provided.

DESI DR2 results. II. Measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmological constraints
M. Abdul Karim, J. Aguilar, S. P. Ahlen, Shadab Alam +4 more
2025· Physical review. D/Physical review. D.326doi:10.1103/tr6y-kpc6

We present baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from more than 14 million galaxies and quasars drawn from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Data Release 2 (DR2), based on three years of operation. For cosmology inference, these galaxy measurements are combined with DESI Lyman- <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mi>α</a:mi> </a:math> forest BAO results presented in a companion paper (M. Abdul-Karim , companion paper, .). The DR2 BAO results are consistent with DESI DR1 and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and their distance-redshift relationship matches those from recent compilations of supernovae (SNe) over the same redshift range. The results are well described by a flat <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <c:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</c:mi> </c:math> cold dark matter ( <f:math xmlns:f="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <f:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</f:mi> <f:mi>CDM</f:mi> </f:math> ) model, but the parameters preferred by BAO are in mild, <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <i:mn>2.3</i:mn> <i:mi>σ</i:mi> </i:math> tension with those determined from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), although the DESI results are consistent with the acoustic angular scale <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <k:msub> <k:mi>θ</k:mi> <k:mo>*</k:mo> </k:msub> </k:math> that is well measured by Planck. This tension is alleviated by dark energy with a time-evolving equation of state parametrized by <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <m:msub> <m:mi>w</m:mi> <m:mn>0</m:mn> </m:msub> </m:math> and <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <o:msub> <o:mi>w</o:mi> <o:mi>a</o:mi> </o:msub> </o:math> , which provides a better fit to the data, with a favored solution in the quadrant with <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <q:msub> <q:mi>w</q:mi> <q:mn>0</q:mn> </q:msub> <q:mo>&gt;</q:mo> <q:mo>−</q:mo> <q:mn>1</q:mn> </q:math> and <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <s:msub> <s:mi>w</s:mi> <s:mi>a</s:mi> </s:msub> <s:mo>&lt;</s:mo> <s:mn>0</s:mn> </s:math> . This solution is preferred over <u:math xmlns:u="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <u:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</u:mi> <u:mi>CDM</u:mi> </u:math> at <x:math xmlns:x="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <x:mn>3.1</x:mn> <x:mi>σ</x:mi> </x:math> for the combination of DESI BAO and CMB data. When also including SNe, the preference for a dynamical dark energy model over <z:math xmlns:z="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <z:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</z:mi> <z:mi>CDM</z:mi> </z:math> ranges from <cb:math xmlns:cb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <cb:mn>2.8</cb:mn> <cb:mo>−</cb:mo> <cb:mn>4.2</cb:mn> <cb:mi>σ</cb:mi> </cb:math> depending on which SNe sample is used. We present evidence from other data combinations which also favor the same behavior at high significance. From the combination of DESI and CMB we derive 95% upper limits on the sum of neutrino masses, finding <eb:math xmlns:eb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <eb:mo>∑</eb:mo> <eb:msub> <eb:mi>m</eb:mi> <eb:mi>ν</eb:mi> </eb:msub> <eb:mo>&lt;</eb:mo> <eb:mn>0.064</eb:mn> <eb:mtext> </eb:mtext> <eb:mtext> </eb:mtext> <eb:mi>eV</eb:mi> </eb:math> assuming <gb:math xmlns:gb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <gb:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</gb:mi> <gb:mi>CDM</gb:mi> </gb:math> and <jb:math xmlns:jb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <jb:mo>∑</jb:mo> <jb:msub> <jb:mi>m</jb:mi> <jb:mi>ν</jb:mi> </jb:msub> <jb:mo>&lt;</jb:mo> <jb:mn>0.16</jb:mn> <jb:mtext> </jb:mtext> <jb:mtext> </jb:mtext> <jb:mi>eV</jb:mi> </jb:math> in the <lb:math xmlns:lb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <lb:msub> <lb:mi>w</lb:mi> <lb:mn>0</lb:mn> </lb:msub> <lb:msub> <lb:mi>w</lb:mi> <lb:mi>a</lb:mi> </lb:msub> </lb:math> model. Unless there is an unknown systematic error associated with one or more datasets, it is clear that <nb:math xmlns:nb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <nb:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</nb:mi> <nb:mi>CDM</nb:mi> </nb:math> is being challenged by the combination of DESI BAO with other measurements and that dynamical dark energy offers a possible solution.

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec PRISM
Zafar Rustamkulov, David K. Sing, S. Mukherjee, Erin May +4 more
2023· Nature296doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05677-y

Abstract Transmission spectroscopy 1–3 of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapour, aerosols and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres 4,5 . However, these previous inferences with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations’ relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species—in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules 6,7 . Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5–5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b 8 , a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with the JWST NIRSpec’s PRISM mode 9 as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team Program 10–12 . We robustly detect several chemical species at high significance, including Na (19 σ ), H 2 O (33 σ ), CO 2 (28 σ ) and CO (7 σ ). The non-detection of CH 4 , combined with a strong CO 2 feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4 µm is best explained by SO 2 (2.7 σ ), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST’s sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.

The Early Data Release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
A. G. Adame, J. Aguilar, S. P. Ahlen, Shadab Alam +4 more
2024· The Astronomical Journal295doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad3217

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) completed its 5 month Survey Validation in 2021 May. Spectra of stellar and extragalactic targets from Survey Validation constitute the first major data sample from the DESI survey. This paper describes the public release of those spectra, the catalogs of derived properties, and the intermediate data products. In total, the public release includes good-quality spectral information from 466,447 objects targeted as part of the Milky Way Survey, 428,758 as part of the Bright Galaxy Survey, 227,318 as part of the Luminous Red Galaxy sample, 437,664 as part of the Emission Line Galaxy sample, and 76,079 as part of the Quasar sample. In addition, the release includes spectral information from 137,148 objects that expand the scope beyond the primary samples as part of a series of secondary programs. Here, we describe the spectral data, data quality, data products, Large-Scale Structure science catalogs, access to the data, and references that provide relevant background to using these spectra.

The Eighteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Targeting and First Spectra from SDSS-V
Andrés Almeida, Scott F. Anderson, M. Argudo–Fernández, Carles Badenes +4 more
2023· The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series251doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acda98

Abstract The eighteenth data release (DR18) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is the first one for SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the survey. SDSS-V comprises three primary scientific programs or “Mappers”: the Milky Way Mapper (MWM), the Black Hole Mapper (BHM), and the Local Volume Mapper. This data release contains extensive targeting information for the two multiobject spectroscopy programs (MWM and BHM), including input catalogs and selection functions for their numerous scientific objectives. We describe the production of the targeting databases and their calibration and scientifically focused components. DR18 also includes ∼25,000 new SDSS spectra and supplemental information for X-ray sources identified by eROSITA in its eFEDS field. We present updates to some of the SDSS software pipelines and preview changes anticipated for DR19. We also describe three value-added catalogs (VACs) based on SDSS-IV data that have been published since DR17, and one VAC based on the SDSS-V data in the eFEDS field.

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H
Lili Alderson, Hannah R. Wakeford, Munazza K. Alam, Natasha Batalha +4 more
2023· Nature247doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05591-3

Abstract Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems 1,2 . Access to the chemical inventory of an exoplanet requires high-precision observations, often inferred from individual molecular detections with low-resolution space-based 3–5 and high-resolution ground-based 6–8 facilities. Here we report the medium-resolution ( R ≈ 600) transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere between 3 and 5 μm covering several absorption features for the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b (ref. 9 ), obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) G395H grating of JWST. Our observations achieve 1.46 times photon precision, providing an average transit depth uncertainty of 221 ppm per spectroscopic bin, and present minimal impacts from systematic effects. We detect significant absorption from CO 2 (28.5 σ ) and H 2 O (21.5 σ ), and identify SO 2 as the source of absorption at 4.1 μm (4.8 σ ). Best-fit atmospheric models range between 3 and 10 times solar metallicity, with sub-solar to solar C/O ratios. These results, including the detection of SO 2 , underscore the importance of characterizing the chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and showcase NIRSpec G395H as an excellent mode for time-series observations over this critical wavelength range 10 .

Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b
Shang‐Min Tsai, Elspeth K. H. Lee, Diana Powell, Peter Gao +4 more
2023· Nature239doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05902-2

Abstract Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability 1 . However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program 2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 M J ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4 ). The most plausible way of generating SO 2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes 5,6 . Here we show that the SO 2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations 7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7 σ ) 8 and G395H (4.5 σ ) 9 . SO 2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO 2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO 2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.

STRIDES: a 3.9 per cent measurement of the Hubble constant from the strong lens system DES J0408−5354
Anowar J. Shajib, Simon Birrer, Tommaso Treu, Adriano Agnello +4 more
2020· Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society236doi:10.1093/mnras/staa828

ABSTRACT We present a blind time-delay cosmographic analysis for the lens system DES J0408−5354. This system is extraordinary for the presence of two sets of multiple images at different redshifts, which provide the opportunity to obtain more information at the cost of increased modelling complexity with respect to previously analysed systems. We perform detailed modelling of the mass distribution for this lens system using three band Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We combine the measured time delays, line-of-sight central velocity dispersion of the deflector, and statistically constrained external convergence with our lens models to estimate two cosmological distances. We measure the ‘effective’ time-delay distance corresponding to the redshifts of the deflector and the lensed quasar $D_{\Delta t}^{\rm eff}=$$3382_{-115}^{+146}$ Mpc and the angular diameter distance to the deflector Dd = $1711_{-280}^{+376}$ Mpc, with covariance between the two distances. From these constraints on the cosmological distances, we infer the Hubble constant H0= $74.2_{-3.0}^{+2.7}$ km s−1 Mpc−1 assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology and a uniform prior for Ωm as $\Omega _{\rm m} \sim \mathcal {U}(0.05, 0.5)$. This measurement gives the most precise constraint on H0 to date from a single lens. Our measurement is consistent with that obtained from the previous sample of six lenses analysed by the H0 Lenses in COSMOGRAIL’s Wellspring (H0LiCOW) collaboration. It is also consistent with measurements of H0 based on the local distance ladder, reinforcing the tension with the inference from early Universe probes, for example, with 2.2σ discrepancy from the cosmic microwave background measurement.

DESI 2024 III: baryon acoustic oscillations from galaxies and quasars
A. G. Adame, J. Aguilar, S. P. Ahlen, Shadab Alam +4 more
2025· Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics226doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2025/04/012

Abstract We present the DESI 2024 galaxy and quasar baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) measurements using over 5.7 million unique galaxy and quasar redshifts in the range 0.1 &lt; z &lt; 2.1. Divided by tracer type, we utilize 300,017 galaxies from the magnitude-limited Bright Galaxy Survey with 0.1 &lt; z &lt; 0.4, 2,138,600 Luminous Red Galaxies with 0.4 &lt; z &lt; 1.1, 2,432,022 Emission Line Galaxies with 0.8 &lt; z &lt; 1.6, and 856,652 quasars with 0.8 &lt; z &lt; 2.1, over a ∼ 7,500 square degree footprint. The analysis was blinded at the catalog-level to avoid confirmation bias. All fiducial choices of the BAO fitting and reconstruction methodology, as well as the size of the systematic errors, were determined on the basis of the tests with mock catalogs and the blinded data catalogs. We present several improvements to the BAO analysis pipeline, including enhancing the BAO fitting and reconstruction methods in a more physically-motivated direction, and also present results using combinations of tracers. We employ a unified BAO analysis method across all tracers. We present a re-analysis of SDSS BOSS and eBOSS results applying the improved DESI methodology and find scatter consistent with the level of the quoted SDSS theoretical systematic uncertainties. With the total effective survey volume of ∼ 18 Gpc 3 , the combined precision of the BAO measurements across the six different redshift bins is ∼0.52%, marking a 1.2-fold improvement over the previous state-of-the-art results using only first-year data. We detect the BAO in all of these six redshift bins. The highest significance of BAO detection is 9.1σ at the effective redshift of 0.93, with a constraint of 0.86% placed on the BAO scale. We find that our observed BAO scales are systematically larger than the prediction of the Planck 2018-ΛCDM at z &lt; 0.8. We translate the results into transverse comoving distance and radial Hubble distance measurements, which are used to constrain cosmological models in our companion paper.

Soluble organic molecules in samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu
Hiroshi Naraoka, Yoshinori Takano, Jason P. Dworkin, Yasuhiro Oba +4 more
2023· Science221doi:10.1126/science.abn9033

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to contain organic molecules, which record processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We analyzed organic molecules extracted from the Ryugu surface samples. We identified a variety of molecules containing the atoms CHNOS, formed by methylation, hydration, hydroxylation, and sulfurization reactions. Amino acids, aliphatic amines, carboxylic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds were detected, which had properties consistent with an abiotic origin. These compounds likely arose from an aqueous reaction on Ryugu's parent body and are similar to the organics in Ivuna-type meteorites. These molecules can survive on the surfaces of asteroids and be transported throughout the Solar System.

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRISS
Adina D. Feinstein, Michael Radica, Luis Welbanks, C. A. Murray +4 more
2023· Nature212doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05674-1

Abstract The Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b has been the subject of extensive efforts to determine its atmospheric properties using transmission spectroscopy 1–4 . However, these efforts have been hampered by modelling degeneracies between composition and cloud properties that are caused by limited data quality 5–9 . Here we present the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b obtained using the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans 0.6–2.8 μm in wavelength and shows several water-absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet and signatures of clouds. The precision and broad wavelength coverage of NIRISS/SOSS allows us to break model degeneracies between cloud properties and the atmospheric composition of WASP-39b, favouring a heavy-element enhancement (‘metallicity’) of about 10–30 times the solar value, a sub-solar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio and a solar-to-super-solar potassium-to-oxygen (K/O) ratio. The observations are also best explained by wavelength-dependent, non-grey clouds with inhomogeneous coverageof the planet’s terminator.

Validation of the Scientific Program for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
A. G. Adame, J. Aguilar, S. P. Ahlen, Shadab Alam +4 more
2024· The Astronomical Journal209doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad0b08

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) was designed to conduct a survey covering 14,000 deg 2 over 5 yr to constrain the cosmic expansion history through precise measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). The scientific program for DESI was evaluated during a 5 month survey validation (SV) campaign before beginning full operations. This program produced deep spectra of tens of thousands of objects from each of the stellar Milky Way Survey (MWS), Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS), luminous red galaxy (LRG), emission line galaxy (ELG), and quasar target classes. These SV spectra were used to optimize redshift distributions, characterize exposure times, determine calibration procedures, and assess observational overheads for the 5 yr program. In this paper, we present the final target selection algorithms, redshift distributions, and projected cosmology constraints resulting from those studies. We also present a One-Percent Survey conducted at the conclusion of SV covering 140 deg 2 using the final target selection algorithms with exposures of a depth typical of the main survey. The SV indicates that DESI will be able to complete the full 14,000 deg 2 program with spectroscopically confirmed targets from the MWS, BGS, LRG, ELG, and quasar programs with total sample sizes of 7.2, 13.8, 7.46, 15.7, and 2.87 million, respectively. These samples will allow exploration of the Milky Way halo, clustering on all scales, and BAO measurements with a statistical precision of 0.28% over the redshift interval z &lt; 1.1, 0.39% over the redshift interval 1.1 &lt; z &lt; 1.9, and 0.46% over the redshift interval 1.9 &lt; z &lt; 3.5.

Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere
JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team, Eva-Maria Ahrer, Lili Alderson, Natalie M. Batalha +4 more
2022· Nature185doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05269-w

Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO 2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called ‘metallicity’) 1–3 , and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants 4–6 . It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets 7–9 . Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO 2 , but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification 10–12 . Here we present the detection of CO 2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme 13,14 . The data used in this study span 3.0–5.5 micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO 2 absorption feature at 4.3 micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative–convective–thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO 2 , but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0 micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam
Eva-Maria Ahrer, Kevin B. Stevenson, Megan Mansfield, Sarah E. Moran +4 more
2023· Nature183doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05590-4

Abstract Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories. Transmission spectroscopy (for example, refs. 1,2 ) provides the necessary means by constraining the abundances of oxygen- and carbon-bearing species; however, this requires broad wavelength coverage, moderate spectral resolution and high precision, which, together, are not achievable with previous observatories. Now that JWST has commenced science operations, we are able to observe exoplanets at previously uncharted wavelengths and spectral resolutions. Here we report time-series observations of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b using JWST’s Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). The long-wavelength spectroscopic and short-wavelength photometric light curves span 2.0–4.0 micrometres, exhibit minimal systematics and reveal well defined molecular absorption features in the planet’s spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous water in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of methane. The otherwise prominent carbon dioxide feature at 2.8 micrometres is largely masked by water. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1–100-times solar (that is, an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a substellar C/O ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation (for example, refs. 3,4 , ) or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere (for example, refs. 5,6 ).

Modelling baryonic feedback for survey cosmology
Nora Elisa Chisari, Alexander Mead, Shahab Joudaki, Pedro G. Ferreira +4 more
2019· Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University)141doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000393723

Observational cosmology in the next decade will rely on probes of the distribution of matter in the redshift range between 0&lt;z&lt;3 to elucidate the nature of dark matter and dark energy. In this redshift range, galaxy formation is known to have a significant impact on observables such as two-point correlations of galaxy shapes and positions, altering their amplitude and scale dependence beyond the expected statistical uncertainty of upcoming experiments at separations under 10 Mpc. Successful extraction of information in such a regime thus requires, at the very least, unbiased models for the impact of galaxy formation on the matter distribution, and can benefit from complementary observational priors. This work reviews the current state of the art in the modelling of baryons for cosmology, from numerical methods to approximate analytical prescriptions, and makes recommendations for studies in the next decade, including a discussion of potential probe combinations that can help constrain the role of baryons in cosmological studies. We focus, in particular, on the modelling of the matter power spectrum, P(k,z), as a function of scale and redshift, and of the observables derived from this quantity. This work is the result of a workshop held at the University of Oxford in November of 2018.

The MillenniumTNG Project: the hydrodynamical full physics simulation and a first look at its galaxy clusters
Rüdiger Pakmor, Volker Springel, Jonathan Coles, Thomas Guillet +4 more
2023· Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society139doi:10.1093/mnras/stac3620

ABSTRACT Cosmological simulations are an important theoretical pillar for understanding non-linear structure formation in our Universe and for relating it to observations on large scales. In several papers, we introduce our MillenniumTNG (MTNG) project that provides a comprehensive set of high-resolution, large-volume simulations of cosmic structure formation aiming to better understand physical processes on large scales and to help interpret upcoming large-scale galaxy surveys. We here focus on the full physics box MTNG740 that computes a volume of $740\, \mathrm{Mpc}^3$ with a baryonic mass resolution of $3.1\times ~10^7\, \mathrm{M_\odot }$ using arepo with 80.6 billion cells and the IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model. We verify that the galaxy properties produced by MTNG740 are consistent with the TNG simulations, including more recent observations. We focus on galaxy clusters and analyse cluster scaling relations and radial profiles. We show that both are broadly consistent with various observational constraints. We demonstrate that the SZ-signal on a deep light-cone is consistent with Planck limits. Finally, we compare MTNG740 clusters with galaxy clusters found in Planck and the SDSS-8 RedMaPPer richness catalogue in observational space, finding very good agreement as well. However, simultaneously matching cluster masses, richness, and Compton-y requires us to assume that the SZ mass estimates for Planck clusters are underestimated by 0.2 dex on average. Due to its unprecedented volume for a high-resolution hydrodynamical calculation, the MTNG740 simulation offers rich possibilities to study baryons in galaxies, galaxy clusters, and in large-scale structure, and in particular their impact on upcoming large cosmological surveys.

A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b
Louis-Philippe Coulombe, Björn Benneke, Ryan C. Challener, Anjali A. A. Piette +4 more
2023· Nature133doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06230-1

Abstract Close-in giant exoplanets with temperatures greater than 2,000 K (‘ultra-hot Jupiters’) have been the subject of extensive efforts to determine their atmospheric properties using thermal emission measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer Space Telescope 1–3 . However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results because the small sizes of the spectral features and the limited information content of the data resulted in high sensitivity to the varying assumptions made in the treatment of instrument systematics and the atmospheric retrieval analysis 3–12 . Here we present a dayside thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b obtained with the NIRISS 13 instrument on the JWST. The data span 0.85 to 2.85 μm in wavelength at an average resolving power of 400 and exhibit minimal systematics. The spectrum shows three water emission features (at &gt;6 σ confidence) and evidence for optical opacity, possibly attributable to H − , TiO and VO (combined significance of 3.8 σ ). Models that fit the data require a thermal inversion, molecular dissociation as predicted by chemical equilibrium, a solar heavy-element abundance (‘metallicity’, $${\rm{M/H}}=1.0{3}_{-0.51}^{+1.11}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>M/H</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>1.0</mml:mn><mml:msubsup><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.51</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>1.11</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math> times solar) and a carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio less than unity. The data also yield a dayside brightness temperature map, which shows a peak in temperature near the substellar point that decreases steeply and symmetrically with longitude towards the terminators.

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Constraints on extensions to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Λ</mml:mi><mml:mi>CDM</mml:mi></mml:math> with weak lensing and galaxy clustering
T. M. C. Abbott, M. Aguena, A. Alarcon, O. Alves +4 more
2023· Physical review. D/Physical review. D.126doi:10.1103/physrevd.107.083504

The authors use Dark Energy Survey data on galaxy clustering and lensing from the first three years of observations combined with five prominent external datasets. They robustly constrain six potential extensions to the currently prevalent cosmological paradigm of \ensuremath{\Lambda}CDM (Cold Dark Matter with a cosmological constant). All extensions would add significant new physics, such as deviations from General Relativity or non-zero spatial curvature, but no significant evidence for new physics is found.

On the Diversity of Asymmetries in Gapped Protoplanetary Disks
Nienke van der Marel, T. Birnstiel, A. Garufi, Enrico Ragusa +4 more
2020· The Astronomical Journal115doi:10.3847/1538-3881/abc3ba

Abstract Protoplanetary disks with large inner dust cavities are thought to host massive planetary or substellar companions. These disks show asymmetries and rings in the millimeter continuum caused by dust trapping in pressure bumps and potentially vortices or horseshoes. The origin of the asymmetries and their diversity remains unclear. We present a comprehensive study of 16 disks for which the gas surface density profile has been constrained by CO isotopologue data. First, we compare the azimuthal extents of the dust continuum profiles with the local gas surface density in each disk and find that the asymmetries correspond to higher Stokes numbers or low gas surface density. We discuss which asymmetric structures can be explained by a horseshoe, a vortex, or spiral density waves. Second, we reassess the gas gap radii from the 13 CO maps, which are about a factor of 2 smaller than the dust ring radii, suggesting that the companions in these disks are in the brown dwarf (∼15–50 M Jup ) or super-Jovian (∼3–15 M Jup ) mass regime on eccentric orbits. This is consistent with the estimates from contrast curves on companion mass limits. These curves rule out (sub)stellar companions ( q &gt; 0.05) for the majority of the sample at the gap location, but it remains possible at even smaller radii. Third, we find that spiral arms in scattered-light images are primarily detected around high-luminosity stars with disks with wide gaps, which can be understood by the dependence of the spiral arm pitch angle on disk temperature and companion mass.