Influence of C/O Ratio on Hot Jupiter Atmospheric Chemistry

TL;DR

This study investigates how the carbon-to-oxygen ratio affects atmospheric chemistry in hot Jupiters, revealing differences in CO2 formation, water abundance, and aerosol production between low and high C/O atmospheres.

Contribution

It provides experimental insights into the influence of C/O ratio on atmospheric pathways, especially regarding CO2 formation, water content, and aerosol presence in hot Jupiter atmospheres.

Findings

Thermochemistry dominates CO2 formation in low C/O atmospheres.

Photochemistry is key for CO2 in high C/O atmospheres.

Water abundance is higher in low C/O atmospheres and unaffected by UV photolysis.

Abstract

We have conducted laboratory experiments to study the chemistry in hot Jupiter atmospheres with C/O ratio of 0.35. We have compared our results with the ones obtained previously for atmospheres with a C/O ratio of 1 to investigate the influence of the C/O ratio on the chemistry and formation of photochemical organic aerosol. We found that the C/O ratio and the gas mixture compositions strongly influence the pathways responsible for the formation of CO2. Thermochemical reactions are primarily responsible for the formation of CO2 in low C/O ratio atmospheres, while photochemistry is the dominant process in high C/O ratio atmospheres even if the final CO2 concentration is the same in both cases. Our results show that low C/O atmospheres at the thermochemical equilibrium contain a higher water abundance, while high C/O atmospheres are significantly depleted in water. However, in low C/O atmospheres, the water abundance is not affected by UV photolysis, while our previous work demonstrated that significant amount of water can be produced in high C/O ratio atmospheres. This contrast in water production suggests that photochemistry should be considered when interpreting exoplanet transit spectra. Finally, we did not observe the formation of a detectable amount of non-volatile photochemical aerosols in low C/O atmospheres, in contrast to our previous study. We infer that for C/O ratio < 1, water likely inhibits organic growth and aerosol formation, suggesting that photochemical organic aerosols are likely to be observed in planets presenting a carbon enrichment compared to their host stars.