Water vapour in the atmosphere of a transiting extrasolar planet

TL;DR

This study detects water vapour in the atmosphere of the hot-Jupiter HD189733b during transit, demonstrating the effectiveness of infrared observations for exoplanet atmospheric characterization.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence of water vapour detection in an exoplanet atmosphere using primary transit infrared spectroscopy.

Findings

Water vapour absorption causes wavelength-dependent radius variations.

Infrared wavelengths are more effective than visible for detecting water.

Non-detection during secondary transit is due to the planet's isothermal atmosphere.

Abstract

Water is predicted to be among, if not the most abundant molecular species after hydrogen in the atmospheres of close-in extrasolar giant planets (hot-Jupiters) Several attempts have been made to detect water on an exoplanet, but have failed to find compelling evidence for it or led to claims that should be taken with caution. Here we report an analysis of recent observations of the hot-Jupiter HD189733b taken during the transit, where the planet passed in front of its parent star. We find that absorption by water vapour is the most likely cause of the wavelength-dependent variations in the effective radius of the planet at the infrared wavelengths 3.6, 5.8 and 8 microns. The larger effective radius observed at visible wavelengths may be due to either star variability or the presence of clouds/hazes. We explain the most recent thermal infrared observations of the planet during secondary transit behind the star, reporting a non-detection of water on HD189733b, as being a consequence of the nearly isothermal vertical profile of the planet.s atmosphere. Our results show that water is detectable on extrasolar planets using the primary transit technique and that the infrared should be a better wavelength region than the visible, for such searches.